Florida
2 great white sharks tagged by OCEARCH tracked off Florida, near Marco Island
Great white sharks in Florida: Why are they here? What to know
North Atlantic great white sharks spend winters off the southeast U.S., from South Carolina to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. Here’s why.
Two toothy visitors were tracked to the waters off the Southwest Florida coast over the weekend.
Keji, a 9-foot 7-inch great white shark, pinged far off Marco Island Friday at 1:59 p.m. On Sunday at 11:55 a.m., a 9-foot 6-inch white shark named Simon pinged near the same location.
Their travels are recorded via satellite tags attached to their dorsal fins by OCEARCH researchers. When a tag breaks the water’s surface, location information is transmitted to trackers.
Simon was known to travel 4,000 miles with an 8-foot shark “buddy” named Jekyll, surprising scientists who previously believed sharks preferred only solitude.
But it looks like they may have parted ways. Jekyll’s tracker shows him pinging off Jacksonville on Feb. 4. Jekyll also pinged off South Carolina less than a day before Simon was tracked off Florida’s Treasure Coast on Jan. 20.
Here’s what to know about Keji, Simon, OCEARCH and white sharks in Florida:
What we know about OCEARCH white shark Keji
Keji was tagged by OCEARCH near Ironbound Island Nova Scotia on Sep. 22, 2021. At the time, the male juvenile white shark measured 9 feet 7 inches and weighed in at 578 pounds. White sharks can grow up to 20 feet long, though most are smaller with males averaging 11-13 feet.
Keji was named after the Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site in the region where he was tagged, according to OCEARCH.
He is no stranger to Florida. According to his tracked pings, Keji was near the Florida Keys on Dec. 13, southeast of St. Augustine on Nov. 30 and made his way to the Panhandle in early 2023. He also paid visits during the winters of 2021 and 2022.
More about great white shark Simon
Simon was caught and tagged off St. Simon’s Island, Georgia on Dec. 4, 2022, during OCEARCH Expedition Southbound.
At the time he was considered a juvenile shark, measuring 9-foot 6 inches and weighing 434 pounds.
Simon was named after St. Simon’s Island, where OCEARCH met him.
Simon recently pinged off Vero Beach on Jan. 17 and near Stuart on Jan. 20.
Why are great white sharks in Florida?
White sharks swim south when the water gets too cold for them and they lack food sources up north, according to OCEARCH chief scientist Dr. Bob Hueter.
Think of them as the snowbirds of sharks.
Most of them tend to hang out away from the beaches in the continental shelf waters, Hueter said.
What is OCEARCH?
OCEARCH is a nonprofit organization researching the ocean’s giants.
The group is recently finished up its 46th expedition, dubbed Expedition Southeast. It departed from Jacksonville on Nov. 17 and is made its final docking in Morehead City, North Carolina on Dec. 15.
There are about 100 documented shark attacks around the globe each year and Florida is home to most of those.
While Florida has the most attacks, South Africa has the most shark-related fatalities.
Since 1992, there have been 1,232 shark bites worldwide, according to data from floridapanhandle.com, with white sharks credited as the top biters.
Support local journalism by subscribing to a Florida news organization.
Florida
Retired NYC restaurant owner charged with DUI in Florida golf cart crash that killed his wife
A retiree who once owned a quaint Queens diner was charged with a DUI after his wife was killed in a golf cart crash at their dream retirement spot in Florida late last month — while he was behind the wheel.
Angelo Theodosiou, 64, and his wife Christina Theodosiou, 58, were cruising through Nocatee, an unincorporated coastal community in Florida, on Nov. 30, when tragedy struck.
Christina Theodosiou fell from the golf cart and smacked her head against the pavement around 10:45 p.m. that night. She was transported to a nearby hospital, but succumbed to her injuries the following day, according to an arrest report obtained by Law & Crime.
Investigators observed that Angelo Theodosiou’s “eyes were bloodshot and watery and pupils displayed a reddened sclera.” Responding officers could also smell “an odor of alcoholic beverage” on him “from approximately three feet away in an open area,” according to the report.
At the scene, a distraught Angelo Theodosiou refused to complete a standard field sobriety test. He also failed to submit to a breathalyzer test, according to the report.
Officials noted in the report that he was “repeatedly asked what was happening and why he was arrested” the following day.
Angelo Theodosiou’s lawyer, L. Lee Lockett, said that the widower is “heartbroken” and maintains his innocence that he wasn’t impaired the night of the accident.
“He’s distraught. He’s depressed as can be,” Lockett told the St. John’s Citizen.
Angelo Theodosiou was charged with driving under the influence and refusing to submit to police testing. He made bond and was released from jail the day after his arrest, according to Law and Crime.
Residents in the cozy retirement hotspot told the outlet that they figured a recently opened greenway path would be bound to cause an accident sooner or later, since it’s created more congestion. Some said they’d seen some recent near-miss collisions between golf carts and e-bikes.
Angelo Theodosiou previously owned the Jackson House Restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens, according to a 2018 article written by students at the School of the New York Times.
He and his brother ran the restaurant, which retained its original name after they purchased the property in the 1990s. Under their leadership, Angelo Theodosiou told the students that they aimed to treat every customer like “family.”
“It might sound corny, but it’s really true,” he said.
It’s unclear when he retired and made the move to the Sunshine State.
Florida
Florida bear hunt sparks tension as groups buy up permits, offer cash to hunters
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — Florida’s bear hunt has roared back to life, with hunters expected to kill “several dozen” black bears as activists scramble to pay them not to.
For the next three weeks hunters are expected to kill “several dozen” Florida black bears, according to WESH.
Bear advocacy groups protested, petitioned and even dragged the state to court — all attempts to stop the hunt before it began. None worked. So activists pivoted to a new strategy: pay the hunters not to pull the trigger.
Florida non-profit Bear Warriors United is offering $2,000 to any hunter with a permit who’s willing to take the bench this season. Another local group, the Sierra Club of Florida says its members and allies have secured 52 of the states 172 permits.
See also: Armed man in bulletproof vest detained for following congressman at Stuart parade
Sierra Club Florida Director Susannah Randolph told WESH she hopes that the FWC is keeping a close eye on how many bears each hunter kills. She noted that there has been chatter online among hunters wanting to “settle the score” now that dozens of hunters were bought out — even though taking more than one bear would amount to poaching.
“I don’t trophy hunt. When I deer hunt, I don’t hunt for antlers,” Hunter Jason Howard told WESH. “It’s for meat. I enjoy deer meat, wild hog meat, turkey meat and I hope to enjoy bear meat as well.”
For advocates, the debate doesn’t end when the season does. Randolph says she’s alarmed by FWC’s plans to eventually allow dog-hunting of black bears, calling it “extremely cruel” and noting that even former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi prosecuted dog-hunting cases.
The only certainty in this year’s hunt is that debate is far from hibernating.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (1)
Find more ways to stay up to date with your latest local news. Sign up for our newsletter to get the day’s top headlines delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for the biggest stories and can’t miss video.
Florida
Florida Launches First Black Bear Hunt Since 2015 as Critics Attempt to Limit the Number of Bears Killed
-
Alaska2 days agoHowling Mat-Su winds leave thousands without power
-
Politics5 days agoTrump rips Somali community as federal agents reportedly eye Minnesota enforcement sweep
-
Ohio4 days ago
Who do the Ohio State Buckeyes hire as the next offensive coordinator?
-
News5 days agoTrump threatens strikes on any country he claims makes drugs for US
-
World5 days agoHonduras election council member accuses colleague of ‘intimidation’
-
Texas2 days agoTexas Tech football vs BYU live updates, start time, TV channel for Big 12 title
-
Politics6 days agoTrump highlights comments by ‘Obama sycophant’ Eric Holder, continues pressing Senate GOP to nix filibuster
-
Politics7 days agoWar Sec Pete Hegseth shares meme of children’s book character firing on narco terrorist drug boat