1,300 Pound Shark Named Maple Swimming Closer to New York Coast

There's a 1,300-pound great white shark that's swimming off the coast of New York and she's coming closer.

Maple has been slowly moving her way north over the last month. The nearly 12-foot-long female shark was first tagged by OCEARCH in September of 2021 off the Nova Scotia coast and has traveled a little over 5,000 miles since then.

Maple's Movements

For the past several days, Maple has been swimming about 200 miles off the New York/New Jersey coast. The OCEARCH tracker shows her coming closer to shore with each passing day.

You can follow Maple's movements on the OCEARCH tracker.

Maple & OCEARCH

Maple is a sub-adult female, the second shark sampled, tagged, and released on September 14th by OCEARCH, a global non-profit organization conducting oceanic research.

Our mission is to accelerate the ocean's return to balance and abundance through fearless innovations in critical scientific research, education, outreach, and policy using unique collaborations of individuals and organizations in the U.S. and abroad.

New York Sharks

Sharks swimming off the New York coast is nothing new. Last November another great white shark was spotted near Long Island that was much bigger than Maple. Nukumi, known as the Queen of the Ocean, is estimated to be about 50 years old, measuring more than 17 feet long and weighing over 3,500 pounds.

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More New York Sharks

Maple and Nukumi are just two of several sharks known to be swimming in New York waters. And not all of them are Great Whites.