It's something commercial fishermen and divers have known for decades: Great white sharks are not uncommon off the Florida coast and, yes, they sometimes come close to shore.

But thanks to a group called OCEARCH, which over the last couple of years has tagged live white sharks with GPS locators, the public is getting a better idea of where these creatures actually roam.

One such shark that enjoys the waters around Florida is Katharine.

Shark researchers like Dr. Jim Gelsleichter, who heads up the shark biology program at the University of North Florida, are happy to see her return.

Members of his department helped tag Katharine off Cape Cod back in 2013.

Since then, the shark has traveled about 11,000 miles up and down the United States' east coast and into the Gulf of Mexico. She spent some time along Central Florida's shores last year.

Tracking those movements has been an eye-opening experience.

"We have earned a lot of new things about white shark movement," Gelsleichter said. "We're learning things we didn't know before."

And while Hollywood did a good job of scaring the world about the "dangers of sharks," Gelsleichter sees attitudes changing. "Ocearch has brought the ocean pretty much to people's living rooms."

Mike Ringberg is one of those following Katharine's moves. We caught up with the Palm Coast resident at the Flagler Beach Pier. "Last year, we heard about her and kind of watched some of the tracking on the computer and pretty interesting. Big shark."

Katharine, according to OCEARCN's website, weighs in at 2,300 pounds. She's 14-feet, 2-inches long.

Researchers are encouraged about this "golden age of the white shark." They are learning new things almost weekly, which makes them have to re-think the fish.

For instance, it was thought white sharks like Katharine migrated seasonally.

Thanks to GPS tracking, they now see sharks travel at will, throughout the year and often come closer to shore than previously thought.

Using that data helps Gelsleichter get a better understanding of the shark and her surroundings, such as how often big sharks like the whites feed.

"When you see those movement patterns, it takes a lot of energy," Dr. Gelsleichter said. "So that allows us to do things like recalculate how much energy would you have to consume in order to pull this off. And we feel the feeding is a lot more regular than we originally thought."

Katharine last pinged, or surfaced long enough for GPS satellites to spot her, early Wednesday morning.

She was about 37 miles east of Ormond-by-the-Sea, and she was headed south.

You can track Katharine's movements on the OCEARCH website, or follow her on Twitter.