How a Wandering White Shark’s Epic Journey Could Provide Clues for Protecting Them 

In this photo provided by Chip Michalove, LeeBeth, a white shark, is tagged on Dec. 8, 2023, off Hilton Head Island, (Chip Michalove via AP)
In this photo provided by Chip Michalove, LeeBeth, a white shark, is tagged on Dec. 8, 2023, off Hilton Head Island, (Chip Michalove via AP)
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How a Wandering White Shark’s Epic Journey Could Provide Clues for Protecting Them 

In this photo provided by Chip Michalove, LeeBeth, a white shark, is tagged on Dec. 8, 2023, off Hilton Head Island, (Chip Michalove via AP)
In this photo provided by Chip Michalove, LeeBeth, a white shark, is tagged on Dec. 8, 2023, off Hilton Head Island, (Chip Michalove via AP)

As sharks go, LeeBeth is something like a long-haul trucker with gills and giant teeth.

Swimmers at the beach might not be excited to see the 14-foot (4.3-meter) white shark, but scientists following LeeBeth's movements are thrilled that the big fish's epic journey could provide valuable clues to help the species. And they're curious where she'll go next.

White sharks, often referred to as great whites, were made famous by the 1970s hit movie “Jaws.” They roam the ocean searching for their favorite food, marine mammals, and were once hunted without discrimination. Some scientists believe growing populations of seals in parts of the Atlantic Ocean are helping the sharks, which were designated a protected species in 1997.

Since getting her tracking device near South Carolina in December, LeeBeth has traveled more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) south and into the Gulf of Mexico, the scientists monitoring her every move said Monday. They watched as she made history in late February by traveling further into the Gulf than any previously tracked white shark. A signal showed her off the coast near Matamoros, Mexico, just across the US border from South Padre Island, Texas.

The shark's presence so far west indicates that this part of the Gulf of Mexico could also be important to other white sharks, said Megan Winton, a senior scientist with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, based in Chatham, Massachusetts. International cooperation is important to protect the sharks, whose worldwide populations are recovering from decades of overfishing, she said.

“We don't know how many white sharks travel that far west, but it's a good indication they do,” Winton said. “There are only a handful of sharks that have been tracked west of the Mississippi.”

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy collaborates with Massachusetts state government to tag white sharks, with more than 300 tagged so far. Thousands more have been tagged by other organizations worldwide, Winton said.

The conservancy paired up with fishing charter Outcast Sport Fishing of Hilton Head, South Carolina, to tag LeeBeth.

Chip Michalove, who owns Outcast, said LeeBeth turned out to be an advantageous shark to tag, as she had sent more signals back from the tracking device than most. The tracker sends a signal whenever the shark breaks the surface of the water.

“Not only one of the biggest sharks we've caught, but she's the best-pinging shark as well,” Michalove said. “We definitely hit a home run with LeeBeth.”

The last time LeeBeth checked in was on March 7, when tracking data showed the great white to be about 100 miles (160 kilometers) off the coast of Galveston, Texas.



Hungary's Oldest Library is Fighting to Save Books from Beetle Infestation

Books are kept in hermetically sealed plastic sacks for disinfection at the Pannonhalma Archabbey's library in Pannonhalma, Hungary, Thursday, July 3, 2025, as a beetle infestation threatens its ancient collection. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
Books are kept in hermetically sealed plastic sacks for disinfection at the Pannonhalma Archabbey's library in Pannonhalma, Hungary, Thursday, July 3, 2025, as a beetle infestation threatens its ancient collection. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
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Hungary's Oldest Library is Fighting to Save Books from Beetle Infestation

Books are kept in hermetically sealed plastic sacks for disinfection at the Pannonhalma Archabbey's library in Pannonhalma, Hungary, Thursday, July 3, 2025, as a beetle infestation threatens its ancient collection. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
Books are kept in hermetically sealed plastic sacks for disinfection at the Pannonhalma Archabbey's library in Pannonhalma, Hungary, Thursday, July 3, 2025, as a beetle infestation threatens its ancient collection. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

Tens of thousands of centuries-old books are being pulled from the shelves of a medieval abbey in Hungary in an effort to save them from a beetle infestation that could wipe out centuries of history.

The 1,000-year-old Pannonhalma Archabbey is a sprawling Benedictine monastery that is one of Hungary's oldest centers of learning and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Restoration workers are removing about 100,000 handbound books from their shelves and carefully placing them in crates, the start of a disinfection process that aims to kill the tiny beetles burrowed into them, The Associated Press reported.

The drugstore beetle, also known as the bread beetle, is often found among dried foodstuffs like grains, flour and spices. But they also are attracted to the gelatin and starch-based adhesives found in books.

They have been found in a section of the library housing around a quarter of the abbey's 400,000 volumes.

“This is an advanced insect infestation which has been detected in several parts of the library, so the entire collection is classified as infected and must be treated all at the same time,” said Zsófia Edit Hajdu, the chief restorer on the project. “We've never encountered such a degree of infection before.”

The beetle invasion was first detected during a routine library cleaning.

Employees noticed unusual layers of dust on the shelves and then saw that holes had been burrowed into some of the book spines. Upon opening the volumes, burrow holes could be seen in the paper where the beetles chewed through.

The abbey at Pannonhalma was founded in 996, four years before the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary. Sitting upon a tall hill in northwestern Hungary, the abbey houses the country's oldest collection of books, as well as many of its earliest and most important written records.

For over 1,000 years, the abbey has been among the most prominent religious and cultural sites in Hungary and all of Central Europe, surviving centuries of wars and foreign incursions such as the Ottoman invasion and occupation of Hungary in the 16th century.

Ilona Ásványi, director of the Pannonhalma Archabbey library, said she is “humbled” by the historical and cultural treasures the collection holds whenever she enters.

“It is dizzying to think that there was a library here a thousand years ago, and that we are the keepers of the first book catalogue in Hungary,” she said.

Among the library’s most outstanding works are 19 codices, including a complete Bible from the 13th century. It also houses several hundred manuscripts predating the invention of the printing press in the mid-15th century and tens of thousands of books from the 16th century.

While the oldest and rarest prints and books are stored separately and have not been infected, Ásványi said any damage to the collection represents a blow to cultural, historical and religious heritage.

“When I see a book chewed up by a beetle or infected in any other way, I feel that no matter how many copies are published and how replaceable the book is, a piece of culture has been lost,” she said.

To kill the beetles, the crates of books are being placed into tall, hermetically sealed plastic sacks from which all oxygen is removed. After six weeks in the pure nitrogen environment, the abbey hopes all the beetles will be destroyed.

Before being reshelved, each book will be individually inspected and vacuumed. Any book damaged by the pests will be set aside for later restoration work.

The abbey, which hopes to reopen the library at the beginning of next year, believes the effects of climate change played a role in spurring the beetle infestation as average temperatures rise rapidly in Hungary.

Hajdu, the chief restorer, said higher temperatures have allowed the beetles to undergo several more development cycles annually than they could in cooler weather.

“Higher temperatures are favorable for the life of insects,” she said. “So far we've mostly dealt with mold damage in both depositories and in open collections. But now I think more and more insect infestations will appear due to global warming.”

The library’s director said life in a Benedictine abbey is governed by a set of rules in use for nearly 15 centuries, a code that obliges them to do everything possible to save its vast collection.

“It says in the Rule of Saint Benedict that all the property of the monastery should be considered as of the same value as the sacred vessel of the altar,” Ásványi said. “I feel the responsibility of what this preservation and conservation really means.”