OCEARCH

OCEARCH, the largest shark-tagging and oceanic research organization in the world, will make an announcement Tuesday morning at JU after receiving "generous contributions" from the city and the state.

Florida attracts a lot of visitors each winter, and not all are human.

The State of Florida has designated $5 million in funding for Jacksonville University and its world-renowned ocean research partner OCEARCH for a marine science research facility in Mayport.

A nearly 10-foot-long great white shark was tracked more than 60 miles off the coast of Nassau County on Tuesday morning.

Jacksonville University Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Bryan Franks stopped by the show to talk about the University’s Marine Science Research Institute and its partnership with OCEARCH, a non-profit dedicated to researching ocean life – specifically sharks. Dr. Franks has been studying sharks for over 2 decades, and in honor of Shark Week this month, he talked about their importance in our oceans and the work JU and OCEARCH are doing to learn more about them.

A massive great white shark, being tracked by OCEARCH, pinged off the Gulf Coast of Florida on Thursday.

A new OCEARCH research center could be coming to Mayport.

These predators aren't nearly as terrifying once you get to know them and that's exactly what one group of locally based researchers is doing.

CRESCENT BEACH, Fla. – Florida has a visitor. Andromache, a 10-feet, 8-inch sub-adult female great white shark “pinged” at 8:43 p.m. on Tuesday right off Crescent Beach, Florida just south of St. Augustine Beach. Andromache’s movements are being tracked in real time by OCEARCH’s Global Shark Tracker app. According to OCEARCH, Andromache was named after a character in Greek mythology of the same name and who is a symbol of maternity, strength and courage. She was the first tagged during OCEARCH’s Expedition Massachusetts 2020.

Marine researchers noticed some unusual activity over the weekend when a massive great white shark was recorded off the coast of the Northwest Florida. The shark, known as Unama’ki, registered a ping offshore of Cedar Key about 7:45 p.m. Saturday. “We don’t usually get white shark pings this far northeast in the Gulf of Mexico.”Unama'ki registered a ping Saturday evening offshore of Cedar Key. (Courtesy of OCEARCH)Unama’ki was originally tagged Sept. 20, 2019, off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, and registered its first ping about a week later. “As a big mature female, Unama’ki has the potential to lead us to the site where she gives birth and exposes a new white shark nursery.”

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The shark research group OCEARCH embarked on its 37th expedition right off our coast on Thursday. Now is the time of year when white sharks concentrate around the Florida-Georgia area to forage on right whales. National scientists will join forces with the Jacksonville University-based OCEARCH team on a three-week survey between Brunswick and Savannah Georgia. White sharks tagged last year close to Nova Scotia have been tracked close to the Florida coast. JU Professor Dr. Bryan Franks plans on tagging new sharks with satellite tracking devices to learn more about their movements and behavior.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Ironbound, a nearly 1,000-pound great white shark tracked by OCEARCH, has been hanging out off the coast of Jacksonville. The male shark joins other large sharks such as Bailey, an 800-pound tiger shark, and Sydney, a 12-foot white shark. Ironbound is named after West Ironbound Island near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Ocearch said. RELATED: OCEARCH finds new home at Jacksonville UniversityIronbound is off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida right now, a journey of over 1,500 miles from where he was tagged off of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. https://t.co/SPoMkHLidP — OCEARCH (@OCEARCH) December 10, 2019Sharks tend to head south to find warmer waters this time of the year.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Work is underway in Mayport where new docks will be built for the OCEARCH research vessel and other ships. Jacksonville University formed a partnership with OCEARCH roughly two years ago. "Part of the idea behind this building is we'll eventually turn it into a display center," White explained, referencing one of the existing buildings. If youre downtown, youre 18 to 20 miles away, so here, we sit right at the ocean. We can do day trips, we can do short term expeditions, if you have a weather window in the wintertime, you can go for two or three days, explained White.