There are great white sharks, and then there are Great White Sharks. The 1,200-pound giant in this story falls into the latter category. On Thursday, OCEARCH, a non-profit organization that tracks and collects scientific data about great whites announced that it is currently tracking a massive female of the species in the Gulf of Mexico. 'Miss Costa,' (the name given to her by the organization) was spotted right off the coast of Panama City, Fl. a few days ago. Her tracker pinged her entering the Gulf at the beginning of April, according to OCEARCH. BREAKING NEWS UPDATES: Get your Houston breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox Miss Costa was 12 feet 5 inches long when she was tagged in 2016 off the coast of Nantucket, MA and could between 14 and 15 feet long today, reports OCEARCH. HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Shark tangled in car engine belt rescued off Gulf Coast shore She is now the third documented great white to make the rare journey outside the normal migratory patterns into the Gulf. Above, you can click through to see Miss Costa's unique growth, her rare journey to the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the two others that made similar trips before her. All of the quotes in the slides above are from the OCEARCH press release. Check out the size of the Great White Shark caught in the Gulf of Mexico, near northwest Florida on Houston Chronicle.com Peter Dawson is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | Peter.Dawson@chron.com | NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.<doc-sep>Miss Costa is one of the several sharks monitored by OCEARCH Here's something you don't see every day: A 12-and-a-half-foot great white shark named Miss Costa has been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Panhandle.It's not unheard of for great white sharks to travel into the Gulf. But this shark is special: Her name is Miss Costa, and she probably has more Twitter followers than you.Miss Costa is one of the several sharks monitored by OCEARCH, a nonprofit that tracks and educates people about marine predators.To help people see the, er, cuddly side of these sea giants, many of the sharks have their very own Twitter accounts and OCEARCH tracking pages.Miss Costa has about 11,300 followers checking in on her whereabouts, which are sent to OCEARCH researchers by "pings" -- signals that emit from a tag on the shark's dorsal fin. She usually hangs around Nantucket, but gains fans (and followers) wherever she goes, from New England to South Carolina to, yes, the Gulf.One of the reason Miss Costa's grand appearance is so interesting is because, according to the Pensacola News Journal, while great whites hang in the Gulf from time to time, they don't typically go near enough to the surface to signal one of those "pings. "Judging from her Twitter feed, Miss Costa is certainly enjoying her stay. Here's something you don't see every day: A 12-and-a-half-foot great white shark named Miss Costa has been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Panhandle. It's not unheard of for great white sharks to travel into the Gulf. But this shark is special: Her name is Miss Costa, and she probably has more Twitter followers than you. Advertisement Miss Costa is one of the several sharks monitored by OCEARCH, a nonprofit that tracks and educates people about marine predators. To help people see the, er, cuddly side of these sea giants, many of the sharks have their very own Twitter accounts and OCEARCH tracking pages. Miss Costa has about 11,300 followers checking in on her whereabouts, which are sent to OCEARCH researchers by "pings" -- signals that emit from a tag on the shark's dorsal fin. She usually hangs around Nantucket, but gains fans (and followers) wherever she goes, from New England to South Carolina to, yes, the Gulf. One of the reason Miss Costa's grand appearance is so interesting is because, according to the Pensacola News Journal, while great whites hang in the Gulf from time to time, they don't typically go near enough to the surface to signal one of those "pings." Judging from her Twitter feed, Miss Costa is certainly enjoying her stay.<doc-sep>The shark was last spotted south of Panama City in March. There hasn't been any confirmed reports of great whites off the coast of Galveston. It’s not unusual to find great white sharks lurking around the East Coast, but a massive 1,600 pound female great white has been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico. Shark trackers are closely monitoring the shark, named Miss Costa, off the coast of the Florida Panhandle south of Panama City. According to OCEREACH, the shark was last spotted in the Gulf in mid-March and has been working her way north ever since. She could be up to 15 feet long. Moody Gardens shark expert Roy Drinnen knows all about what's lurking in the Gulf. To him, news of a great white not all that far from Galveston isn't a surprise. “Kind of makes you wonder how many come into the gulf without us knowing,” said Moody Gardens shark expert Roy Drinnen. “Chances are there probably have been great whites [in Gulf waters off coast of Galveston].” Drinnen says great whites follow the food and prefer cooler water temperatures. Great whites have only been tracked in the Gulf of Mexico from December through July. Should this be a cause for concern? Shark experts like Drinnen say "No." “Just be amazed at the animal and what they can do,” Drinnen said. “We just share the environment with them. They’re not looking to eat us or anything.” Again, Drinnen says there haven't been any confirmed reports of great whites off the coast of Galveston and there have been no known great white shark attacks in the Gulf either. Miss Costa has a Twitter page. You can follow her journey through the Gulf here.<doc-sep>A look at a 1,600-pound great white shark in the Gulf of Mexico. OCEARCH A 12-foot-long, 1,600-pound great white shark has been located in the Gulf of Mexico and researchers are tracking its movements in order to better understand the species. According to the non-profit research group OCEARCH, the great white, affectionately nicknamed Miss Costa, was first found swimming in waters off the Florida Panhandle in March and has been moving north ever since. Named after OCEARCH's partner Costa Sunglasses, Miss Costa was first spotted in 2016, swimming near Nantucket, Massachusetts. At the time, she was 12-foot, 5 inches long, but is now estimated to be as long as 14 or 15 feet. Miss Costa is only the third large-sized female great white to be tracked by OCEARCH in the Gulf of Mexico. Researchers are studying Miss Costa and other sharks in order to test a hypothesis regarding the migration patterns of adult female great whites in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The non-profit research firm has it's own Twitter page with 104,000 followers. It features updates on shark movements and other aspects of marine biology. Researchers have even given Miss Costa her own Twitter page, featuring videos, fun facts and updates on her whereabouts. According to OCEARCH, researchers have known great white sharks swim in the Gulf of Mexico but their movement there hasn't been as widely studied there as it has in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. OCEARCH has been able to follow Miss Costa by applying an electric tracking pin to her dorsal fin that "pings" signals out showing her location as she moves.<doc-sep>
(CNN) — Here’s something you don’t see every day: A 12-and-a-half-foot great white shark named Miss Costa has been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Panhandle. It’s not unheard of for great white sharks to travel into the Gulf. But this shark is special: Her name is Miss Costa, and she probably has more Twitter followers than you. OCEARCH Miss Costa in all her glory after being tagged in 2016. She's alive. Miss Costa is one of the several sharks monitored by OCEARCH, a nonprofit that tracks and educates people about marine predators. To help people see the, er, cuddly side of these sea giants, many of the sharks have their very own Twitter accounts and OCEARCH tracking pages. As @MissCostaShark pings near the Florida Panhandle, she’s helping give a better understanding of white shark behavior in the Gulf of Mexico. PRESS RELEASE: https://t.co/q6vxXaNuWL pic.twitter.com/q5ARqqYvOi — OCEARCH (@OCEARCH) April 16, 2019 Miss Costa has about 11,300 followers checking in on her whereabouts, which are sent to OCEARCH researchers by “pings” – signals that emit from a tag on the shark’s dorsal fin. She usually hangs around Nantucket, but gains fans (and followers) wherever she goes, from New England to South Carolina to, yes, the Gulf. One of the reason Miss Costa’s grand appearance is so interesting is because, according to the Pensacola News Journal, while great whites hang in the Gulf from time to time, they don’t typically go near enough to the surface to signal one of those “pings.” for real, so many boys down here in the gulf. all of puffin up their chests & flashing toothy smiles. Well it’s gonna take more than that to impress me. Hint boys....try being genuine pic.twitter.com/5bqZ0oud71 — Miss Costa (@MissCostaShark) April 16, 2019 Judging from her Twitter feed, Miss Costa is certainly enjoying her stay.