Kobe Bryant was fascinated by sharks. Now a great white carries his name

Sharks fascinated basketball legend Kobe Bryant since his childhood in Italy, CNN reports.

Now a great white shark among those that gather annually at a Pacific Ocean island off the coast of Mexico has been named for Bryant, who died Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash with his daughter Gianna and seven others, Business Insider reports.

“Did you know Kobe was a shark lover and visited Guadalupe Island back in 2016?” wrote the Marine Conservation Science Institute on Instagram.

“White Shark Kobe Bryant is a relative newcomer to the island and is estimated to be about 12 feet in length and 10-years old,” the institute added.

The institute tracks sharks that gather off Guadalupe Island each year by their markings kept in a photo database, Business Insider reported. Sharks are normally identified by number.

“In honor and memory of Kobe Bryant, we’ve inserted a brand new shark into the #24 spot and named it ‘Kobe Bryant,’ ” wrote Michael Dormeier of the institute on Instagram. Bryant wore No. 24 during part of his NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“I lived in Southern California during Kobe Bryant’s entire career as a Laker, so I could personally feel the shock of his sudden death despite the fact I was thousands of miles away in Patagonia,” Dormeier said, CNN reported.

The shark’s photo was taken by Martin Graf, who runs Shark Diver, Business Insider reported. Bryant spent time with the company in Southern California in 2013.

“He dove with us. He just did one dive, he saw two different sharks,” Graf said, Business Insider reported. The company didn’t have diving booties large enough for Bryant, so he wore his Nikes underwater.

Bryant, 41, and eight others including his 13-year-old daughter died when his helicopter hit a hillside in heavy fog near Calabasas, California, while on their way to a youth basketball game, McClatchy News previously reported.

In an Instagram post Monday, Vanessa Bryant expressed grief and anger at the deaths of her husband and daughter.

“My brain refuses to accept that both Kobe and Gigi are gone,” she wrote. “It’s like I’m trying to process Kobe being gone but my body refuses to accept my Gigi will never come back to me. It feels wrong. Why should I be able to wake up another day when my baby girl isn’t being able to have that opportunity?! I’m so mad. She had so much life to live.”

Vanessa Bryant also wrote that she knew she had to be strong for their three remaining daughters. She said she shared her feelings to help others also grieving for loved ones.