BY MARK PRICE FOR THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER (JULY 09, 2024),- An 8-foot, 10-inch great hammerhead shark vanished from tracking in the Gulf of Mexico, and experts say it was escaping Hurricane Beryl.
Facebook screengrab Sharks are apex predators but that doesn’t mean they won’t go into hiding. That was the case when an 8-foot, 10-inch great hammerhead shark vanished from satellite tracking in the Gulf of Mexico, researchers with OCEARCH reported in a July 8 Facebook post.
Experts say the shark, named B.P. Armstrong, was trying to outrun something. “After giving us consistent pings on the tracker, B.P. Armstrong has not pinged since July 4,” OCEARCH wrote. “It is likely that he went deep as Hurricane Beryl approached the Gulf.
This is a common hurricane response our team has seen in sharks and it will be interesting to see where and when B.P. Armstrong resurfaces.” As of July 9, the shark had yet to reappear, tracking shows. B.P. Armstrong was tagged Feb. 24 off Mexico’s Isla Mujeres and frequented waters northeast of the Yucatan Peninsula.
The area took a direct hit from Hurricane Beryl. The storm reached Category 5 status, with maximum strength winds of 165 mph, Climate.gov reports. Beryl was a Category 1 hurricane when it made landfall Monday, July 8, in Texas, the Associated Press reports.
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