1,300-lb. Twitter celeb visits NW Fla.

Northwest Florida’s Panhandle was recently visited by a 1,326-poud celebrity, who has swum 10,000 miles over the past 14 months. Hilton, a white shark with nearly 20,000 Twitter followers, was first tagged in March 2017 by OCEARCH, a global non-profit shark research organization, off Hilton Head, S.C. His movements have been track ever since. The 12.5-foot shark has mostly hugged the Atlantic coastline, sometimes swimming as far north as Nova Scotia, but was recently pinged April 25 off the Gulf of Mexico coast south of Navarre, Fla. A "ping" is determined when a tagged shark's dorsal fin breaks the surface and transmits a signal to a satellite overhead, according to OCEARCH. The transmission then sends an estimated geo-location. Hilton has moved even further west along the Gulf Coast. On April 27, he was pinged near the shores of Port Eads, La. (Source: Pensacola News Journal 04/26/18)