Hilton Head Island’s very own great white shark is on the move

Hilton Head Island’s very own great white shark is making its way up to cooler water.

Hilton, the great white that was first tagged off the island in March, pinged Tuesday morning off the coast of North Carolina.

The 12-foot, 5-inch, 1,326-pound shark has come to the surface four times since Friday, allowing the transponder satellite tag attached to his dorsal fin to send locator pings.

On Friday, he pinged about 20 miles south of Bald Head, N.C., according to OCEARCH’s Global Shark Tracker.

Then Sunday morning, he surfaced off of Hatteras Island, N.C. And on Tuesday morning, he pinged twice near the Outer Banks.

Less than two weeks ago, he pinged off Florida’s east coast between Daytona and West Palm beach, according to the tracker.

Hilton was the first great white shark that a team of researchers and fishermen from OCEARCH caught during their Expedition Lowcountry in March.

The expedition, which took place off the Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina coasts, was used to gather data on the ecology, physiology and behavior of mature great white sharks in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the group’s 28th mission.

It appears Hilton is heading up toward the Northeast coast, where cooler water temperatures are more to the liking of great whites this time of year.

To track Hilton on his journey, visit www.Ocearch.org/Profile/Hilton.