"Mary Lee The Shark" Becomes A Twitter Sensation
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A shark is the newest Twitter star, thanks to a fake Twitter handle. Though the handle is fake, the great white itself is very real and has been tracked for several years. Now more and more people from outside of the scientific community are following one of the world's most elusive creatures.
If you are over the age of 40 when you think of great white sharks you probably think of the one made famous by Hollywood. Jaws, released in 1975, has terrified swimmers for decades. Today some people still won't step foot in the water.
Seeing a great white in real life though is rare.
In 2012, scientists from a non-profit group called Oceana got an up-close look. They captured and tagged a 35 hundred pound great white with a satellite transmitter. They named her Mary Lee and for the past few years they have tracked her movements.
Mary Lee has traveled some 20,000 miles, but she's going even further on the internet.
Chris Fischer, with Ocearch, said it happened by accident.
"Someone started tweeting on behalf of Mary Lee the shark and at OCEARCH we're all about including everyone in trying to solve this puzzle we just started amplifying that and its really taken on a life of its own," he said.
The fake twitter handle @MaryLeeShark has nearly 60 thousand followers. They get updates on where she's at via a satellite tracker. And she's a sense of humor.
"There are sharks in the ocean all the time. Don't panic because I'm pinging..." she said to a worried vacationer.
"People do seem to swim faster when I appear," she replied to another.
Mary Lee isn't the only great white on social media. Two other great whites, @RockStarLydia and @Shark_Katharine have a following. Katherine actually winters in Florida. Right now she's hanging out right off of Melbourne. A year ago she was in Biscayne Bay, just south of Key Biscayne.
As the sharks cruises up and down the coast, OCEARCH hopes to take advantage fo the sharks fame to educate people that great whites are not what Jaws portrayed.
"We're not only solving the puzzle of her life to protect her but we're giving her a voice to shift the tone in conversation around her and other white sharks like her," Fischer said.
While great white sharks are fascinating you have a better chance of running into far more dangerous sharks in South Florida. Bull sharks can be found not only in the ocean but in the bay, canals and beyond. Bull sharks have the most testosterone of any animal on the planet. They have also been linked to more bites than any other shark. Bull sharks though don't have a taste for humans. Often they take a bite to see what we are and then move on.
To follow the great white sharks on Twitter check out: @MaryLeeShark @RockStarLydia @Shark_Katharine
