1,326-pound great white shark known in SC waters takes spring break in the Gulf

Hilton, the 12-foot, five-inch great white shark, has been on spring break in the Gulf of Mexico.

The shark was first tagged off the coast of Hilton Head on March 3, 2017, and has traveled more than 10,000 miles mainly on the east coast, until this April, according to OCEARCH's Global Shark Tracker.

Hilton first pinged in the Gulf on April 13, OCEARCH reports. The 1,326 pound shark has been swimming around off the coast of Florida's panhandle and Alabama for the last couple weeks.

The well-known great white even has his own Twitter account with more than 30,000 followers. The latest tweet reads, "Hello Florida! Anyone know where I can find some fish?"

OCEARCH researchers go out on expeditions to tag sharks, which are caught from tenders using handlines and are guided by hand in the water on and off a lift, according to the website. Researchers collect tissue and blood samples and attach acoustic and accelerometer tags, the website states.

If a shark swims to the surface of the water for long enough, the tag will ping, sending a signal to a satellite to record its location, OCEARCH's website says.

Hannah Strong: 843-444-1765, @HannahLStrong

This story was originally published April 30, 2018 at 10:30 AM with the headline "1,326-pound great white shark known in SC waters takes spring break in the Gulf."