Track Lydia the One-Tonne Great White Shark on Course for Northern France
Revellers enjoying the sun in Cornwall at the weekend feared the whereabouts of a great white shark called Lydia, after the website tracking the creature crashed.
The satellite-tagged shark, which measure 15ft and weighs around 2,000Ib, was spotted 1,000 miles off the coast of Cornwall last week. If she continued to swim along her trajectory, she may hit British shores this week.
If she succeeds, continuing to travel at a speed of 35mph, she will become the first of her species to be documented crossing from one side of the Atlantic to the other.
You can track the whereabouts of Lydia at Ocearch.org. She was feared to have gone off the radar after the tracker failed to pick up her location for two days, after initial reports she was heading for the UK.
Jay Ellis, from Cornwall, told the Daily Star: "Please can you keep us updated on where Lydia is and what direction she's headed in?"
The great white was tagged off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida in March 2013 as part of the Ocearch shark project, which is currently tracking 70 sharks. So far, she has travelled 19,464 miles and is over 3,000 miles from where she began her journey.
The project aims to "generate previously unattainable data on the movement, biology and health of sharks to protect their future while enhancing public safety and education".
Speaking to the BBC, Dr Gregory Skomal, a senior fisheries biologist with Massachusetts Marine Fisheries, said: "No white sharks have crossed from west to east or east to west.
"Although Lydia is closer to Europe than North America, she technically does not cross the Atlantic until she crosses the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which she has yet to do."
"She would be the first documented white shark to cross into the eastern Atlantic. We have no idea how far she will go, but Europe, the Med, and the coast of Africa are all feasible."
Jamie Oliver, the curator of Sea Life London Aquarium, told the Daily Star: "It wouldn't surprise me if maybe she did just come for a look around British waters to see what food is available. The colder temperature of our seas won't bother her too much as she's swum across the Atlantic."
However, he added Lydia is unlikely to come very close to the shore if she does reach Britain: "Even if she does come to Britain, she is unlikely to stray too close to land. There's never been any documented cases of great white sharks attacking anyone around the coast of the UK."
Great white sharks are known for long-distance migrations. In 2003 a great white nicknamed Nicole completed a return journey from South Africa to Australia - a distance of over 12,000 miles.
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