Great White Shark Detected Off Atlantic County

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — Say hello to Miss May. The Ocearch Shark Tracker detected a 10-foot great white shark Tuesday morning off the coast of Atlantic City.

Ocearch tags and monitors several sharks and other marine creatures to help scientists develop data. The organization also shows a map which can determine whether a shark swam close to shore.

Miss May pinged several miles off the coast at 8:07 a.m. Tuesday. Swimming at 10 feet, 2 inches, Miss May was tagged Feb. 15, 2019, in Fernardina Beach, Florida. She is a subadult, meaning she passed through her juvenile period but hasn't attained typical adult characteristics.

She also has more than 7,000 Twitter followers.

The Jersey Shore holds a significant place in the history of sharks. One century ago, American scholars doubted that sharks could kill a person without provocation.

That changed after the original Jersey Shore shark attacks, when sharks killed four people and injured another in a series of attacks from July 1-12 of 1916. The initial attack took place July 1 at Beach Haven. Charles Epting Vansant, 25, was bitten on the leg and bled to death on the manager's desk of the Engleside Hotel at 6:45 p.m. that evening, according to documentation.

The other attacks took place days later in Matawan and Spring Lake. Read more: National Geographic's 'SharkFest' Examines 1916 LBI Shark Attack

Fortunately, shark attacks are rare. Sharkattackdata.com has recorded only four cases since 1965. New Jersey's last fatal case occurred in 1926, according to the website.

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