'Penny' the young white shark pings in Gulf for first time in 2026
OCEARCH said it's not Penny's first visit to the Gulf. She first went to the southeast Gulf in early 2024.
'Penny' the young white shark tagged off North Carolina in 2023
Video from April 2023 shows research nonprofit OCEARCH catching, measuring, tagging and releasing a white shark they named Penny off the coast of North Carolina. Penny is a juvenile female white shark.
A young white shark named Penny has emerged northwest of Key West in the Gulf of America for the first time this year.
Penny was tagged by research nonprofit OCEARCH in April 2023 off Ocracoke, North Carolina.
OCEARCH caught Penny the white shark in April 2023 off the coast of North Carolina. (OCEARCH / FOX Weather)
OCEARCH is dedicated to researching and protecting sharks, whales, sea turtles and other ocean life, tagging these animals to track and study their migration habits and behaviors from afar.
Penny, a juvenile white shark, was last satellite pinged on Friday, Feb. 13.
Penny the white shark's most recent ping off the Florida Keys on Feb. 13, 2026. (OCEARCH / FOX Weather)
OCEARCH said the shark was located roughly 90 miles west northwest of Key West.
The most recent ping prior to this one was on Dec. 31, 2025, southeast of Key Largo on Florida's Atlantic Coast.
OCEARCH said it's not Penny's first visit to the Gulf. She first went to the southeast Gulf in early 2024.
A newly tagged Penny is released back into the ocean by OCEARCH in April 2023. (OCEARCH / FOX Weather)
Penny's next stop could be the Florida panhandle or Pulley Ridge, or she could follow an entirely new path.
Conditions are favorable, and food sources are abundant in the panhandle and Pulley Ridge, making it an ideal place to land, OCEARCH said.
The research nonprofit said they're monitoring to see where Penny will head to next.
You can track Penny and 400 other ocean animals in real time using the free OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker app.