Beach season has arrived in Tampa Bay, and apparently so has Edithe, a nearly 12-foot, 1,138-pound great white shark. And no, this is not a hoax.
In a Twitter post, nonprofit research organization Ocearch said it tagged the 11-foot, 8-inch fish last year off the coast of Nova Scotia. On March 27, Edithe was pinged 30 miles off the coast of Tampa Bay. As one CL reader pointed out on social media, her latest location was actually down in the Keys, so don't worry.
And while a great white did recently nibble a boat out in the Gulf, there have been no great white bites on a Bay area beach. Plus, last year shark bites were down in Florida overall anyway, with just two unprovoked bites between January and June.
Spring break forever.
UPDATED: 04/01/21 3 p.m. Updated to show Edithe down in the Florida Keys.
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This article appears in Apr 1-7, 2021.