Surf is up this weekend as great white shark 'Sydney' lingers

MELBOURNE, Fla. - The surf is going to be up this weekend at Space Coast beaches, but for anyone looking for that right wave, stay alert for a fin.

A 1,100-pound great white shark named "Sydney" is pinging off our coast. The screen on the homepage for OCEARCH allows you to track tagged sharks in real-time.  Brevard County has had multiple visits with female Katharine. Now male, Sydney, is out there.

On Friday, three friends were enjoying their boogie boards at Indiatlantic, totally unaware Sydney was on the grid. On Saturday, the rides will be better with waves five to eight feet. The friends say they’ll be back, but will stay alert.

In September, a 13-year-old was bitten by a shark off Satellite Beach. The first bite of the year in Brevard county. But to the north in Volusia county, there were five bites in a nine-day period in late summer.

Experts at OCEARCH say that great whites are kind of like snowbirds- they come to Florida during the winter.