3,400-Pound Great White Shark Returns To N.J. Coast

A 3,400-pound great white shark is once again making the rounds just a few miles off the coast of New Jersey.

The shark -- named Mary Lee -- was just a few miles off the Jersey Shore on Thursday, sending out a “ping” off at 7 a.m., according to information reported on the OCEARCH Shark Tracker.

The shark is one of more than 100 sharks around the world being tracked by OCEARCH, a nonprofit organization dedicated to shark research.

Earlier this year, the shark made a Mother’s Day Visit to the Seaside Heights and Lavallette area, swimming within 2 miles of the shoreline. The shark also swam in the Ocean City area; on Thursday, it returned to Ocean County.

And as the organization’s research has grown, so has the following of its tagged sharks. Mary Lee, however, has taken on a following of her own, complete with a Twitter audience of nearly 16,000 followers.

“@MaryLeeShark Can I petttttt youuuuu? Come to Middletown!” tweeted one follower, to which the shark’s account replied, “Just a little too creepy for me, Jordan. -:()

Mary Lee is 3,456 pounds and 16 feet long, and has traveled almost 20,000 miles since she was first tagged off Cape Cod in September 2012, according to OCEARCH.

Great whites, made famous by the movie “Jaws,” are the world’s largest predatory fish, according to Discovery. They grow to be about 15 to 20 feet or more and can weigh more than 5,000 pounds. Though they are sometimes portrayed as man-eaters, these animals are responsible for just five to 10 attacks per year, according to the BBC.

Great whites are not uncommon to the Jersey Shore, where sitings are reported, primarily by fishermen, nearly every summer.

The purpose of the OCEARCH tagging is to help scientists gather data about various sharks. Its projects use SPOT tags -- Smart Position and Temperature, which are the only devices capable of real-time tracking of fine and broad scale movement, anywhere in the world, according to the organization.

“SPOT tag data enables the identification of critical areas for highly migratory species such as white sharks, including feeding, breeding and nursery areas, migratory pathways and coastal areas where human/shark interaction is possible.”

If you want to follow Mary Lee or any of the apex predators OCEARCH has tagged around the world, visit the Shark Tracker page here.

And if you decide to try to check her out ... you’ll definitely need a big boat.

(Mary Lee via OCEARCH Twitter page; her most recent location.)