In an unusual occurrence, two critically endangered great white sharks surfaced, off the coast of Florida, within a minute of each other, on Tuesday.
The nonprofit research organization OCEARCH logged the two sharks - nicknamed Bob and Breton - as they popped their fins above water at 12:45 and 12:46 a.m., respectively.
The organization tags the sharks with a GPS device on their dorsal fins, which then pings whenever the massive fish breach the surface of the water, according to the Florida Times-Union.
Breton weighs in at a whopping 1,437 pounds and measures 13 feet three inches. He has traveled the length of the eastern seaboard - from Nova Scotia to Florida - drawing what OCEARCH describes as a "self-portrait" in the process. If Breton's surface excursions are charted on a map, they appear to create the outline of a shark.
Bob - the first shark to surface - is named after OCEARCH Chief Scientist Dr. Robert Hueter. The shark weighed 1,308 pounds and was 13 feet four inches when he was tagged by OCEARCH in 2021. Like many others, Bob chooses to spend the winter in Florida and has surfaced three times off the Florida coast this year.
"We'll be following the journeys of both Bob the shark and Dr. Bob Hueter as they continue to help us grow in the world of science for the betterment of our sharks and our oceans," the OCEARCH website reads.
OCEARCH's team members say that sharks play an especially important role in the environment, due to their status at the top of the food chain.
"The ocean needs lots of sharks," Chris Fischer told the Louisville Courier-Journal. "Sharks keep everything in check. If we lose the sharks, we lose the oceans."
