11 March 2024 , 00:41
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Two huge great white sharks have been reported off the east coast of Florida, each 13 foot long.
The two adult sharks were pinged by the tracking system provided by the non-profit OCEARCH within 24 hours of each other. A ping is reported whenever the animal's tag breaks the surface of the water.
Named "Mahone" and "Breton" the adult sharks, it wasn't immediately clear where the sharks were when the pings happened.
Mahone weighs more than 1,700 pounds and has been reported as the largest ever tagged by OCEARCH in Canadian waters. His latest ping happened at 11.38am on Saturday March 9. And while the location wasn't immediately clear this time, the OCEARCH tracker recently showed he was near St Augustine Beach in February 29.
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Mahone has been reported as weighing 1,700 and is the largest ever tagged by OCEARCH (Getty Images)Just further down the coast, less than 24 hours later, Breton then pinged this morning at 11.01am. The OCEARCH tracker showed he weighs more than 1,400 pounds and was just north of Merit Island. OCEARCH has been tracking both of the sharks for three years.
It comes as just last week an extremely rare video has captured the moment a 60-year-old "grandmother" orca killed a great white shark off the coast of South Africa.
The fatal ocean brawl was filmed as part of National Geographic's limited series "Queens" - and an amazing clip that has been doing the rounds online shows the orca, named Sophia, quickly charging at the shark and taking a chomp out of it. Scientists believe this is the first time a single orca was filmed killing a great white shark.
The animal's tag has to break the surface of the water for a ping to happen (AFP via Getty Images)Dr. Chris Lowe told ABC News: "Orcas are very smart animals. They're very powerful and, in some cases, probably even more powerful than a white shark." He added: "We often think of white sharks as being the top predator in the ocean when actually orca are."
Even though they are called killer whales, orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family. They are mostly black on top with white undersides and white patches near the eyes - and have a grey or white saddle patch behind the dorsal fin.
They are highly social animals who live in groups called pods. They can grow to 30ft long and weigh up to six tons. Orcas can live up to 90 years, with females usually living longer than males, according to WWF.
In June 2022, scientists said great white sharks are fleeing waters they have occupied for centuries after a pair of killer whales developed a taste for their lives. The orcas embarked on a serial killing spree, leaving great white shark carcasses littering the beaches and waters around South Africa in recent years.