Unama’ki weighs 2,076 pounds. Unama’ki is also 15 feet, five inches long. Unama’ki is not a man or woman but just so happens to be a Great White Shark that showed up 100 miles off of the Northwest Florida coast.
This is not a random occurrence. We know these details because of OCEARCH. OCEARCH is a nonprofit research company that has been tracking Unama’ki and other white sharks to learn more about their breeding habits. They hope to use Unama’ki to lead them to other white sharks. “As a big mature female, Unama’ki has the potential to lead us to the site where she gives birth and exposes a new white shark nursery,” OCEARCH said, according to USA Today.
Unama’ki is not the only shark OCEARCH is tracking. She is just one of the biggest to date. She was first tagged in Nova Scotia during the fall of 2019. Many months and miles later, she was tagged again in Florida on the first of February. Three other great white sharks were also tagged by OCEARCH. They were found to be in the Gulf of Mexico – Helena, a female, weighing 1,314 pounds, Nova, a male, weighing 1,186 pounds, and Brunswick, a male, weighing 431 pounds, are swimming in or around the Florida Keys area. There is no telling where Unama’ki and her great white peers are heading next but OCEARCH has their eyes on them, waiting to see if these great whites will lead them to great discoveries and great change.
