Massive "grandmother" great white shark tagged in northwest Atlantic

US shark researchers tagged the largest great white shark they've ever encountered in the northwest Atlantic. The shark, named Nukumi after the Mi'kmaq word for "grandmother," is more than 16 feet long, weighs 3,500 pounds, and is estimated to be in her 50s. The team from OCEARCH encountered Nukumi south of Lunenburg, Novia Scotia. From CBC/Radio-Canada:

"When you look at this particular area where we are right now, the great white are the guardians of all of your fish stocks, they're preventing the seals from over-foraging and crashing the whole system," [OCEARCH founding chairman Chris] Fischer said.

He said Ocearch has tagged other great white sharks her size elsewhere in the world, but not in the northwest Atlantic.

"It's very humbling," he said. "They make you feel small and when you look at their body, they have all these blotches and scars and marks and wounds that have healed over, some many years ago, some recently.

"And you really look at the animal and you really see the story of their life unfolding."

image: OCEARCH