TWO great white sharks have been spotted swimming together along the US East Coast.
The male sharks have been nicknamed Simon and Jekyll and their behavior is confusing scientists.
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According to Live Science, both sharks are juvenile and have been tracked swimming over 4,000 miles together.
This behavior is unusual because great white sharks are solitary animals.
They’re never usually seen swimming together over long distances.
So far Simon and Jekyll have swam from the southeast US to Canada.
Robert Hueter is a shark scientist at OCEARCH and he tagged the pair of sharks.
In a Facebook post highlighted by Live Science, Hueter said: “White sharks lead a very solitary existence.
“We don’t really expect to see these white sharks staying together.”
The great white sharks have been tagged since December last year.
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Members of the public can track Simon and Jekyll on the OCEARCH shark tracking website.
Right now the site pinpoints both sharks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
The sharks aren’t always in the same place at the same time but they often appear in the same location and appear to follow the same path.
Scientists at OCEARCH are said to have never seen anything like this behavior.
Tissue samples have been taken from both sharks to compare their genetics and see if they’re related.
Another explanation is that the sharks are hunting together.
According to the Smithsonian Ocean website: “Despite their reputation as lone hunters, great whites will cooperate with one another, hunting in groups and sharing the spoils.”
