A Great White Showed Up South Of Sabine Pass

On Feb. 26, “LeeBeth,” a 14.1 foot, 2,600-pound female fitted with a satellite tag by Capt. Chip Michalove of Outcast Sport Fishing shocked shark lovers when she showed up 200 yard from the beach at South Padre Island.

She was tagged December 8, 2023, off the coast of South Carolina and took an amazing journey that continues as she “pings” all over the Gulf.

That means her fin has breached the surface and she has made satellite contact and most recently south of Sabine Pass, TX.

Michalove said this particular shark has pinged more than any other of the 47 he has tagged for the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.

Since Dec. 26, this shark moved down into Mexican waters, back up toward South Padre and on March 7 was due south of Sabine Pass, TX, approximately 125 miles offshore.

Will she move closer to shore? Perhaps she will move toward Florida.

LeeBeth is a real treat to watch and she is highly unpredictable.

The work the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and Capt. Michalove are doing is amazing.

This particular ping is intriguing to me because it goes back to an early part of my career in 2005 when an offshore charter captain friend called me on a satellite phone 58 miles out of Sabine Pass with a great white sighting.

You can read.an in-depth story about that encounter here.

This began in-depth research on the topic and spawned several award-winning stories including one from the Texas Outdoor Writer’s Association in 2022 for my article “Jaws In Texas Waters” for Texas Fish & Game.

Some didn’t think whites existed in Gulf waters, but the amazing work from Ocearch and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy has proven otherwise.

Chester Moore