Scientists confirmed the first known detections of great white sharks within the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, located approximately 100 miles off the Texas coast, marking a historic milestone for marine research in the Gulf of Mexico.
Researchers tracked nine individual great white sharks around the sanctuary and surrounding reefs between 2022 and 2025. This came according to a study published on September 16, in Frontiers in Marine Science.
Five of the predators ventured directly into the protected area. While great whites are no strangers to the wider Gulf of Mexico, sightings west of the Mississippi River have historically been extremely rare.
Visual or remotely operated vehicle surveys over a 25-year span at the sanctuary had never previously recorded the species.
The discovery was led by Michael Dance, an associate professor in Louisiana State University’s Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences.
He worked in collaboration with Texas A&M University researchers, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, and other institutional partners.
The team established a large-scale acoustic receiver array consisting of 32 receivers spread across sanctuary banks, surrounding reefs, and adjacent artificial structures in July and August 2022.
The underwater listening network picked up signals from acoustic transmitters previously attached to the sharks along the Atlantic coast, stretching from South Carolina to Massachusetts and Canadian waters.
The nine sharks detected between 2022 and 2025 had originally been tagged along the Atlantic coast between South Carolina and Massachusetts, per reporting by student newspapers covering the findings.
Earlier this year, a 1,009-pound female shark named Ernst was tracked near Louisiana’s Chandeluer Islands after making a lengthy journey from Nova Scotia.
A doctoral student in Dance’s lab focused on the sanctuary.
Sharks Tracked Across Annual Migration Routes
Detections at seven natural banks within the sanctuary and adjacent reefs occurred between January and August, with a distinct peak during the spring months.
The sharks logged extraordinary journeys, with some traveling nearly 2,360 miles from their original tagging locations.
Two of the tagged animals demonstrated site fidelity by returning to the region in multiple consecutive years.
A male shark visited the area during three consecutive springs, completing an annual round trip of at least 5,700 miles between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Flower Garden Banks.
A female returned for two consecutive summers.
None of the tracked sharks lingered at any single receiver for more than a day. They do not stay long.
Artificial reefs and oil and gas infrastructure scattered throughout the outer shelf support significant biomass that likely serves as a food source during these journeys.
Records Confirm Gulf White Sharks
The Flower Garden Banks detections are not an isolated data point.
Researchers documented two white sharks on remotely operated vehicle video off coastal Alabama in 2024, following a void in camera surveys running from 2010 through 2023.
Tagged sharks such as LeeBeth and Keji have pushed deep into regional waters.
Sanctuary Rules Protect Marine Habitat
Spanning 17 banks across more than 300 kilometers of the continental shelf edge, the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary operates as a heavily regulated marine protected area.
Commercial anchoring is strictly prohibited within its boundaries, with visiting vessels required to utilize designated mooring buoys to shield the delicate coral formations and resident species from physical damage.
Researchers emphasize that continued long-term monitoring through acoustic telemetry is essential for understanding how mobile pelagic visitors interact with protected ecosystems.
As electronic tagging technology and passive monitoring capabilities advance, scientists are gaining visibility into animal movements in remote offshore environments.
