In late October a male great white shark nicknamed Tough Guy revealed his position off Vandenberg Air Force Base north of Santa Barbara.
It was noteworthy because at least three white shark attacks on surfers – two of them fatal – occurred in base waters between 2010 and 2014.
On Monday, Tough Guy was nearing the main Hawaiian Islands, showing the extent to which these apex predators seasonally migrate.
“White Sharks are peeling away from the mainland coast,” Michael Domeier, who runs the Marine Conservation Science Institute, stated via Instagram. “Looks like Tough Guy is coming back to Hawaii to say hello.”
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Adult white sharks from California and Mexico typically spend winter in a vast swath of Pacific halfway between the West Coast and Hawaii, with some reaching Hawaii.
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Tough Guy was tagged off Southern California on Nov. 21, 2021. He measured 12 feet at the time.
The Marine Conservation Science Institute has satellite-tagged dozens of white sharks and the public can track their movements via the nonprofit’s Expedition White Shark App.
–Generic white shark image courtesy of Michael Domeier/Marine Conservation Science Institute
