CURRITUCK, N.C. — We're 10 days away from Discovery's Shark Week, and the fish in Virginia and North Carolina are starting to take notice.
"Ninja Sharks 2: Mutants Rising," which is set to air on July 16, even features shipwrecks off the coast of North Carolina.
Outer Banks beachgoers were treated to a special shark viewing in honor of the television event on Wednesday, when the Shark Week Blimp floated over the coast.
Shark Week has been a recurring program since 1988, but this is the first year it's had a blimp. The floating shark is meant to get people excited about the week of marine specials.
The blimp isn't the only shark in the area this week.
The Ocearch shark tracker has about 15 sharks swimming off the coasts of the Outer Banks, Virginia Beach and Virginia's Eastern Shore. On its website, you can click a particular shark to see its path between beacons.
The closest sharks are Bluenose, who most recently pinged near Oregon Inlet, and Weimar, who was swimming in the Currituck Sound.
The largest was Ironbound, a white shark off the coast of Assateague Island.
It's important to note - encounters between people and sharks are rare, and even more rarely are shark attacks deadly.
Here are a few of the sharks enjoying our coastal area Thursday:
- ACK, female white shark, 12 feet long
- Bluenose, male white shark, 11 feet 7 in
- Weimar, male tiger shark, 9 feet 4 in
- Montauk, female white shark, 4 feet 6 in
- Savannah, female white shark, 8 feet 6 in
- Shaw, male white shark, 10 feet 3 in
- Ironbound, male white shark, 12 feet 4 in
- Big Kahuna, male tiger shark, 6 feet 10 in
- Cate Ells, female mako shark, 6 feet 6 in
- Paumanok, male white shark, 5 feet 8 in
- Singles You Up, female white shark, 5 feet
- Hirtle, male white shark, 10 feet 9 in
- Cisco, male white shark, 8 feet 7 in
- Teddy, male White shark, 5 feet 4 in
The week of shark-themed special shows kicks off July 11. You can catch it on air on the Discovery channel, or online at Discovery+.
