Researchers with the University of South Alabama released a video last week of a great white shark swimming near the state's artificial reef zone. The school said in a news release that they monitored the shark for 10 days.
"We have surveyed over 1,000 artificial and natural reef areas over the last 10 years, providing scientific data to assist the State of Alabama in managing its offshore fisheries," said Dr. Sean Powers, director of USA's Stokes School of Marine and Environmental Sciences. "This is our first documented sighting of a white shark."
Although there have been recent reports of divers seeing white sharks, a case of a fisherman catching one, and one washing up dead on the Florida panhandle, this is the first one recorded by scientists. In the news release, the school said the shark was spotted in approximately 150 feet of water where the reef was located.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, white sharks prefer temperate and subtropical seas. While they can be found all over, they tend to prefer cooler waters off the coast of New England and California.
The researchers described the shark, which they named Miss Pawla after the school's mascot, as approximately eight feet in length. They added that it's also about 15 years old, which makes it a juvenile. Experts say sharks mature around 30 years of age and can live to be about 70.
