KEY POINTS:
They are calling him Streak. The juvenile great white shark caught up in fishing nets off the Californian coast last northern summer became a major attraction at a Monterey Bay aquarium, but that was nothing compared to the level of interest in his journey away from captivity.
That is because, since his release, Streak has travelled more than 1600km to the warmer seas off the Mexican Pacific coast in barely six weeks, making him the fastest young white shark to have been tracked, and providing scientists with important clues on the juvenile habits of a creature that grows into one of the most fearsome in the oceans.
Scientists from the aquarium and visitors to the project's website have been following Streak's progress, thanks to a device that sends a signal home every time his dorsal fin breaks the surface.
"It's remarkable," said Randy Hamilton, the vice-president of husbandry at the aquarium. "To travel that far, that fast, was totally unexpected."
Adult great whites have been heavily studied in the region, with their migration patterns so well known that an area halfway to Hawaii where they gather has been designated White Shark Cafe. But little is known about their early habits.
- INDEPENDENT
