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Chessie The Tiger Shark Turns North Toward Myrtle Beach Before Tweeting Snooki

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 13:39 PST, Jun 9, 2015

Chessie, the giant tiger shark that was tagged last month off the coast of Hilton Head, is now swimming north of her home territory, and appears to be set on a course for Myrtle Beach.

Measuring 12 feet, two inches in length and weighing in at roughly 1,200 pounds, Chessie has gained a devoted fanbase over the last few weeks, following her first appearance off South Carolina. Researchers affiliated with Ocearch attached a satellite tag to her fin, as the State reported, and Chessie now signals them each time she breaks the surface. As the Ocearch website demonstrates, the tiger shark has signaled dozens of times, revealing a distinct territory off the coast of Charleston.

Now, however, Chessie seems to be heading northward, on a course that appears set to take her to Myrtle Beach. Around noon on Monday (June 8), the shark turned into Bulls Bay, seemingly heading toward shore near Cape Island. By 8:55 p.m., however, Chessie had moved north, toward the South Santee River, before turning into the Atlantic. Several more “pings” showed that Chessie was headed steadily northward, albeit miles out to sea. Her last signal was received at 3:47 a.m. on June 9, at which time the tiger shark was east of Cane Island, roughly 30 miles south of Myrtle Beach.

In the short time she has been tracked by Ocearch, Chessie has developed a dedicated and impressively large social media following. The tiger shark boasts over 14,000 followers on Twitter, as WMBF notes, a trait she shares with other Ocearch sharks like Katharine and Mary Lee. On Tuesday afternoon, Chessie even found herself in a Twitter exchange with Jersey Shore star Nicole Polizza, better known as Snooki.

Chessie represents the largest tiger shark ever tagged on the East Coast, and Captain Chip Michalove, who helped document her, noted that the animal’s head is “as big as a great white’s,” as the Inquisitr previously reported. While only time will tell if she makes her way to Myrtle Beach, Chessie nevertheless continues to interest researchers while proving herself to be a highly unique and unusually popular tiger shark.

[Photo by Ocearch via Twitter]

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