A tracking tag placed on the dorsal fin of a white shark in South Africa 13 years ago—and later recovered by an Indonesian fisher more than 6,400 miles away—has revealed the first documented migration of a white shark between South Africa and Southeast Asia. This unprecedented discovery highlights unexpected connectivity across the Indian Ocean.The satellite tag was attached by the U.S.-based research organization OCEARCH to a 12’10” female white shark, nicknamed Alisha, in May 2012 off Gansbaai, South Africa. Alisha’s tag transmitted near real-time location data via satellite for almost two years, revealing both coastal and open-ocean movements throughout the southern Indian Ocean (see Alisha’s journey).In November 2016, Alisha was unfortunately caught in fishing gear off the Indonesian coast and brought ashore for harvesting. Initially misidentified as a longfin mako shark—causing confusion in tracing the tag’s origin—Alisha had grown 2’8” in the 4.5 years since her tagging. Her recapture only became known to OCEARCH and its South African collaborators in June 2024, after the Indonesian fisher contacted a local conservation group and presented the tag, this time reporting it came from a tiger shark, adding further confusion.Extensive detective work ultimately led to the remarkable confirmation of Alisha’s transoceanic journey. This discovery—made possible through collaboration between local fishers, conservationists, and international researchers—not only sheds light on white shark migratory routes and growth rates but also underscores the urgent need for global cooperation in protecting these vulnerable apex predators.
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