Nicole
The Record-smashing Great White Shark
The epic odyssey of Nicole (named after Australian actress and white shark admirer Nicole Kidman) impressed scientists worldwide. The female great white shark, which was tagged by Dr. Bonfil and his team in 2003 off the coast of South Africa, turned out to be a real record-smasher. It performed the fastest transoceanic return migration ever among any swimming animal Nicole completed the first known transoceanic trip for an individual shark of any species– more than 20.000 km to the coast of Australia and back again! And more than that: During its trip it dived down to 980 meters and was able to tolerate water temperatures as low as 3.4 C. With this fantastic odyssey Nicole changed the scientists’ perception about how these charismatic predators move through the world´s oceans.
