Great white shark is no longer heading this way

A great white shark which appeared to be heading towards the Galway coastline seems to have veered towards the north in the past few days.

Scientists monitoring the progress of Lydia, who was tagged in Florida last year, say she has moved north towards Greenland in recent days.

Great whites normally live in more temperate waters and Lydia has already set a record by becoming the first such fish to be tracked all across the Atlantic Ocean.

While Lydia appeared to be heading directly towards the Irish coast last weekend, the 14 foot shark has veered more northward after coming within 1,200kms of the coastline.

The shark’s transatlantic voyage has caused excitement among marine scientists in Ireland, who point out that great whites are nowhere near as dangerous as people believe.

“The great white is one of those species which really seems to capture people’s imaginations,” said Dr Noirin Burke of the Galway Atlantaquarium yesterday.

“People have strong emotions towards them. Yet when I go out to schools, as part of our Explorers programme, I tell the children that we have so many beautiful sharks in Ireland.

“There is always a fear factor with sharks and the vast majority of them are portrayed negatively. I always tell students in schools that they have as much of a chance of dying from a coconut falling on their heads as they have of being eaten by a great white!”

See more on this story in this week’s Galway City Tribuneand you can track Lydia’s journey here