Longtime locals can still recall the national attention Myrtle Beach received on June 13, 1964, when Walter Maxwell landed his world record tiger shark off of the Cherry Grove Fishing Pier. The giant shark measured 13 feet, 10.5 inches long and weighed in at 1,780 pounds. Now, local conversations have been directed at Mary Lee and Genie, two Great Whites who have been paying a visit to our shores.

Mary Lee is a mature, 16-foot-long female who weighs 3,456 pounds. She was caught, tagged and released with a GPS unit attached to her dorsal fin on September 17 off of Cape Cod and made an immediate course for the Grand Strand.

Genie is a mature, 14-foot, 8-inch female who weighs 2,292 pounds. On September 13 she was caught, tagged and released with a GPS unit off of Cape Cod and also made a track for the Grand Strand.

The fact that these are the only Great Whites ever tagged on the East Coast and they both happen to enjoy the Grand Strand waters raises some interesting questions about how many are out there and why they are here.
These are some of the questions that non-profit group OCEARCH is attempting to answer through its research of the Great White sharks. With a high demand for shark fins overseas, the shark population is in decline worldwide.

With the help of the 126-foot research vessel, M/V OCEARCH, the group is using GPS tracking devices to go beyond traditional research and track the medium- and long-range movement patterns of the sharks. By sharing this information with other scientists and the public, they hope to be more effective in shark and marine life conservation.

You can get more information or track the daily movement of Mary Lee and Genie by visiting www.ocearch.org and clicking Shark Tracker.