8-Foot-Long Great White Shark 'Savannah' Spotted Off Florida Gulf Coast

A massive great white shark made its way up the west coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, according to reports.

The shark, known as Savannah, pinged west of Pine Island in Hernando County, 30 miles off the coast of Florida around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. She appeared to be making her way north, according to the tracking site OCEARCH.

Researchers recorded Savannah’s last ping at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 22, west of the Dry Tortugas National Park, which is west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico, reported WTSP, a CBS affiliate in Tampa.

Savannah was tagged by OCEARCH March 2017 in Hilton Head, South Carolina. OCEARCH captured her during its Low Country Expedition, a journey to study behavioral patterns with a team comprised of several shark researchers.

Savannah's name represents the residents Savannah, Georgia, according to OCEARCH. She weighs 480 pounds, measured 8-feet-long and has traveled over 4,115 miles since receiving a tag.

OCEARCH is a global shark tracking website focused on studying marine species such as great white and tiger sharks. The Ocearch Global Shark Tracker shares real-time data uploaded to a Twitter account.

The great white shark population may be on the decline, according to researchers. Their presence is key to maintaining a balanced underwater ecosystem.

"No other animal can fill the role sharks play," conservationist Shawn Heinrichs tweeted. "If we remove sharks from the oceans, the stability of all marine ecosystems is threatened. What if 2 billion people lose their primary protein source? Can we ever afford to take that risk? END THE WAR ON SHARKS!"