880-Pound Shark Detected Off New Jersey Coast

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — A white shark was detected off the coast of New Jersey on Friday morning, according to shark-tracking organization OCEARCH.

The 880-pound, female shark named Freya was first detected in the Delaware Bay on Thursday night before she swam up the New Jersey coast.

Freya "pinged" in off of Atlantic City on Friday at 10:30 a.m. and was located off of Long Beach Island later that night.

Freya was last spotted Tuesday in the Rhode Island Sound just before 9:30 p.m.

Freya's journey up the eastern coast was charted on OCEARCH’s shark tracker. Sharks will "ping" when their dorsal fin is above the surface long enough to be detected by a satellite.

11ft, 850lb white shark Freya is swimming tight to @AtlanticCityGov. Be advised.

Track her movements here: https://t.co/0AwJIuFQeM#whiteshark #atlanticcity #shark pic.twitter.com/bXbCn7ruB0
— OCEARCH (@OCEARCH) June 18, 2021

Researchers at OCEARCH said Freya was moving up the New Jersey coast in search of huge schools of menhaden up the coast and into the bay.

The name Freya, which translates to "noble woman," was chosen by OCEARCH's partner, Sea World.

Her name pays homage to the women researchers on both Expedition Carolinas and on all past research expeditions who are working to uncover shark insights related to their species' conservation.

Freya’s whereabouts can be tracked here.

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