3 sharks have been tracked off the NC coast. 2 are great whites.

If you're headed to the beach soon, there are three sharks that are also hanging around the North Carolina coast.

Five-foot-long, 101-pound immature great white shark Bruin was tracked off the coast of Wilmington on March 6, according to OCEARCH, a shark tracking research group.

George, the second great white tracked this week, is considerably larger than young Bruin. The mature great white is nearly 10 feet long and 702 pounds. George was spotted on March 26.

Bruin hadn't been spotted in about a month, according to OCEARCH records.

George and Bruin are joined by Yinzer, a mature Mako shark more than 6 feet long, weighing 255 pounds. According to the tracker, Yinzer traveled more than 264 miles in 72 hours. He was spotted near the continental shelf off of North Carolina's coast, much farther out to sea than the other two sharks.

The great whites likely are returning north after their sojourn toward Florida and warmer waters for the winter.

North Carolina has averaged about two to three shark attacks per year for the past 14 years and has not had a fatal attack since 2001. The United States has averaged about 41 attacks per year since 2001, according to the international shark attack file at the University of Florida.

The sharks are tracked by “pings.” When a tagged shark’s dorsal fin breaks the surface, it transmits a signal to a satellite, which then sends geographical data.

For more information, to track these or other sharks or to donate to OCEARCH efforts, go to www.ocearch.org.

This story was originally published April 4, 2018 at 6:42 PM with the headline "3 sharks have been tracked off the NC coast. 2 are great whites.."