Laurie K. Blandford

USA TODAY NETWORK - FLORIDA

LATEST LOCATION

Katharine surfaced five times this morning, all in the same general area east of Melbourne: 5:47 a.m., 6:39 a.m., 7:32 a.m., 8:17 a.m. and 8:50 a.m.

EARLIER STORY

Katharine paid a visit to familiar waters off Brevard County Monday.

The great white shark has been steadily approaching the area for several days, said OCEARCH, a great white shark research and advocacy team.

Katharine pinged three times Jan. 13 off the coast of Palm Beach County — the closest one being about 12 miles off the coast of Lake Worth.

Her next ping came about 6:45 a.m. Monday more than 43 miles off the coast of Melbourne, according to OCEARCH’s website. She had pinged about 10:30 p.m. the previous night about 12 miles west of her latest location.

Katherine made her presence in South Florida known again Jan. 8 when she pinged nearly 50 miles east of Jupiter Island. Before that, the last time she pinged was Nov. 6 about 115 miles off the coast of St. Augustine.

The OCEARCH team found Katharine searching for food in the coastal waters of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and tagged her in August 2013 to learn more about the migratory habits of sharks using satellite technology.

Katharine the shark coming back to Brevard?

When Katharine’s dorsal fin breaks the surface of the water, a signal (ping) is sent to a satellite, allowing her to be tracked in real time online at OCEARCH’s website.

The shark was named Katharine in honor of Katharine Lee Bates, the Cape Cod resident who penned the well-loved song “America the Beautiful.” Katharine weighed 2,300 pounds and was 14-feet, 2 inches long.

KATHARINE’S PINGS IN 2017

Jan. 23, 6:44 a.m., about 43.5 miles east of Melbourne

Jan. 22, 10:29 p.m., about 56 miles east of Melbourne

Jan. 13, 9:33 p.m., about 12.5 miles east of Lake Worth

Jan. 13, 2:32 p.m., about 28 miles east of Lake Worth

Jan. 13, 10:19 a.m., about 41 miles east of Lake Worth

Jan. 8, 10:20 p.m., about 50 miles east of Jupiter Island

Jan. 8, 7:42 p.m. Jan. 8 east of above

Jan. 8, 6:41 p.m. Jan. 8 east of above

KEEPING TRACK

Online: www.ocearch.org/

Twitter: @Shark_Katharine