Scientists from OCEARCH, an NGO that is tagging and sampling white sharks, described the female shark as "Queen of the Ocean" and say they have called her Nukumi.
"We named her 'Nukumi', pronounced noo-goo-mee, for the legendary wise old grandmother figure of the Native American Mi'kmaq people," Ocearch wrote in a Facebook post Saturday.
The Mi'kmaq culture has deep roots in Nova Scotia, according to the post.
"With the new data we've collected, this matriarch will share her #wisdom with us for years to come," OCEARCH wrote.
Nukumi is the largest of eight great whites that researchers have sampled during the current expedition, which has been running for 27 days as of Monday.
OCEARCH also posted a video showing Nukumi lying on a special submersible platform built onto the side of its research vessel with researchers around her, and subsequently swimming away.
OCEARCH is an ocean data-collection organization that has tagged and collected samples from hundreds of sharks, dolphins, seals and other animals.