Katharine the shark may be coming of age

• Katharine the Shark was tagged off Cape Cod, Mass., in August 2013

Katharine the great white shark is a big girl now — all grown up — maybe even ready to start a family.

But scientists have no way of knowing yet whether she can have little Katharines, or is already expecting.

"We would never know that, unless we directly observe that," said Bob Hueter, director of the center for shark research at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, who's involved with the nonprofit OCEARCH project that tracks Katharine and dozens of other sharks. "We could surmise that based on some things that we see."

Researchers captured the great white shark in August 2013 off Cape Cod, fitted her dorsal fin with a satellite tracking device and dubbed her "Katharine." At the time, she was 14 feet long and 2,300-pounds. Now they believe she's likely a few feet longer and at least 3,000 pounds — the size when big great whites start to make little great whites.

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But for now, all researchers can do is watch her international travels, speculate and hope she finds a soul mate.

"No one has ever seen white sharks giving birth, or mating," Hueter said. "They seem to be pretty secretive about these things. They certainly don't do it in places where there are a lot of people."

The tracking has shown sharks seeking out food and reproduction areas, but some travels seem random.

The shark tracking team plans another expedition off of Jacksonville next month to capture and tag more Katharines, he said.

Since being tagged in 2013, Katharine's journeys — more than 24,571 miles total — have captured the imagination of researchers and shark enthusiasts and sparked media feeding frenzies. Her "pings" make headlines.

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On Friday (Feb. 5) she pinged at 7:30 a.m. off Nova Scotia, seemingly on a northbound path, unusual for a species thought to mostly migrate south during winter.

"Go figure," Hueter said.

She may be munching down seals and other large prey. "There are a lot of marine mammals up there," Hueter said. "Seals, small whales, perhaps some other sharks," are likely on her menu, he said.

Katharine's every ping brings new revelations — in real time. The sharks' paths can be followed on OCEARCH's web site. And they're upending everything scientists thought they knew about shark migration, proving these apex predators don't just roam at random. They're driven, although by the beat of very different drums.

Shortly after being tagged, Katharine swam south for the winter, staying close to shore or near the Continental Shelf. But she surprised researchers by venturing into the Gulf of Mexico in 2014, during almost the hottest summer months. Researchers had thought great whites only did that during winter.

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In May 2014, she'd meandered waters off the Kennedy Space Center, where she lingered several miles offshore for days, before heading north.

Katharine wasn't the first shark OCEARCH had tagged, but almost every media market the great white passed by seemed to fall for her.

Mary Lee and Genie — other great whites tagged by OCEARCH — also have gained thousands of online fans.

But Mary Lee seems mostly to have Georgia on her mind over the past few years. At 10:52 a.m. Wednesday, she pinged far off Virginia, seemingly heading south.

Then there's Lydia. She ventured to the middle of the North Atlantic last year, seemingly oblivious to the winter weather, surprising researchers with how far out in the ocean she journeyed.

The last she's been seen this year was Oct. 20 off of Georgia.

UPDATE: OCEARCH site functioning in time for popular Katharine's ping

Katharine was named in honor of Katharine Lee Bates, a Cape Cod native and songwriter best known for her poem and song "America The Beautiful."

OCEARCH's real-time tracking has opened up the mysterious travels of great whites. For one, they swim south much faster and more randomly than once thought.

These awesome predators can explode in quick bursts of speed, estimated conservatively at 30 mph.

Shark researchers already knew great whites migrated to the Southeast in late fall and early winter, but they don't know much about where they go over the long term or what they're doing at any given time.

In early 2013, Mary Lee popped up 200 yards off Jacksonville Beach, prompting the researchers to alert local authorities.

That great whites are being tracked so close to shore might be scary for some swimmers, but the researchers are quick to point out that their "hits" have huge errors that can be several miles and that the tracking is not intended for shark warnings.

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Instead, they hope to reveal where these apex predators go and why, while raising awareness of the great white's plight — and that of other sharks worldwide.

And researchers say there's little to fear from Katharine or her ilk.

There has never been a documented great white attack off Florida.

But that doesn't mean the species holds any affection for humans, or even their own.

Should Katherine reproduce, she'd make a horrible mother, by all accounts.

All sharks do.

"There's no parental care," Hueter said. "There's no emotional attachment. Sharks, as a rule, have no parental care. They give birth to fully formed young."

Contact Waymer at 321-242-3663 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com Follow him on Twitter @JWayEnviro and at facebook.com/jim.waymer

Want to check out where Katharine and other sharks tagged by OCEARCH go, visit: http://www.ocearch.org/