A GREAT WHITE shark has defied scientists’ expectations by making an epic journey, crossing 12,400 miles of ocean.

The journey, recorded by a satellite tag attached to the dorsal fin of a shark found off the coast of South Africa, is the first transoceanic and longest recorded trip by a single shark.

It is also the fastest recorded swim back and forth across an ocean made by a marine creature.

The shark, named Nicole — after Nicole Kidman, the shark-loving Hollywood actress — swam from South Africa to Australia and back again in nine months.

Its voyage has provided scientists with the first physical evidence of a link between two of the most important and widely separated great white populations.

An international team of scientists led by Ramon Bonfil, of the Wildlife and Conservation Society, undertook the difficult and dangerous task of attaching satellite tags to 32 great whites.

The tags recorded time, temperature, water depth and light levels as the sharks moved through their habitats. Many remained near the eastern coast of South Africa, but Nicole, whose tag was attached in November 2003, headed off across the Indian Ocean.

Dr Bonfil said: “This is one of the most significant discoveries about white shark ecology and suggests that we might have to rewrite the life history of this powerful fish.

“Nicole has shown us that separate populations of great white sharks may be more directly connected than previously thought.”

The findings of the study, which was supported by the Marine and Coastal Management Department of South Africa and the White Shark Trust, are published in the journal Science and suggest that commercial fishing operations in the open ocean may pose more of a risk than previously thought.

In his report, Dr Bonfil writes: “Long-distance and transoceanic migrations expose great whites to increased risk of mortality as they leave domestically protected waters in South Africa/Australia and travel into neighbouring or remote countries, sometimes crossing entire ocean basins.”

Researchers tracked Nicole from South Africa to Australia for 99 days, after which the tag automatically detached itself. Six months later the shark resurfaced back in Gansbaii, South Africa, where it had initially been tagged. It was recognised and identified by its distinctively notched fin.

During the journey, Nicole dived to record depths of 980m (3,215ft) but spent more than 60 per cent of the time just below the sea surface while swimming in the open ocean. This has led scientists to speculate that the shark may have been using the position of the Sun and stars to navigate.

A separate study, also published in Science, suggests that salmon sharks may also migrate long distances from their home in Alaska.

Great white sharks, the type in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film Jaws, can be fearsome predators but studies have shown that they rarely eat humans.

According to scientists, most attacks occur when they confuse humans with preferred prey such as sea lions and seals.

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