Nine great white sharks detected in Gulf of Mexico sanctuary for first time

Nine great white sharks were detected for the first time in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a September 2026 study in Frontiers in Marine Science. The discovery marks a historic first for the protected reef area. Researchers from Louisiana State and Texas A&M universities used a network of 32 acoustic receivers deployed since July 2022 across the sanctuary's 17 coral banks. Nine sharks were detected at 14 sites, with five inside the sanctuary, traveling up to 3,750 kilometers from tagging locations, and two returning in consecutive years. The tagged sharks originated from areas between South Carolina and New Brunswick, Canada, with one individual covering 3,600 kilometers in 280 days. The increased sightings west of the Mississippi likely reflect the species' gradual population recovery in the Northwest Atlantic.