The first great white shark to be seen crossing from one side of the Atlantic into the other might be pregnant, according to BBC.com, who cited the head of the expedition tracking the shark.
The satellite-tagged fish, called Lydia, crossed the mid-Atlantic ridge this weekend, and she has now apparently turned towards the UK, but no one knows for sure where she'll be going next.
Chris Fischer spoke to BBC this week saying he believes Lydia is in fact pregnant and is heading to birthing grounds in the Mediterranean.
"I certainly think that it's possible for Lydia to make it to the UK," said Fischer, who is the expedition leader and chairman of the Ocearch shark tagging company.
Fischer added that if the shark continues to head towards Europe or even Africa, she will become "more coastal," according to BBC.com.
While there have been sightings of great whites in UK oceans before, Fischer said "I think these were anecdotal versus a documented presence. So hopefully we'll be able to help with that."
Ocearch confirmed on March 9 that Lydia had crossed the ridge into the eastern Atlantic, though many have argued that the waters of these isles "are too cold" for great white sharks. Fischer said Lydia is changing many expectations of sharks however.
"One thing we have learnt just in the last year with sharks in the Atlantic is what we used to think was too cold simply is not," Fischer said.
Lydia came over from Nova Scotia, Canada, meaning she likely has the capacity to deal with cold water temperatures for "long periods of time," according to the BBC.
At press time, Lydia was 1,000 miles from the western coasts of Ireland and Britain, and 3,000 miles from Jacksonville, Florida, where the tracking device was attached to her.
The female shark has traveled approximately 19,000 miles since last year. The Ocearch project has tagged over 150 sharks, ranging from mako, hammerhead, tiger and great whites, according to Fischer.
"One of the things we wanted to do [with Ocearch is disrupt the whole way research like this normally works," he said.
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