The largest male great white shark ever recorded in the Atlantic, known as Contender, is once again on the move.
Contender, an adult male white shark, was tagged by OCEARCH in January off the Florida/Georgia coastline.
Weighing in at a massive 1653 pounds and measuring 13 feet long, Contender is estimated to be around 32 years old, according to OCEARCH.
OCEARCH is a global nonprofit organization that tracks large oceanic species to gather essential data for better understanding these animals and marine ecosystems.
Since January, Contender has been migrating from Florida up the East Coast into Canada.
Currently, he is starting his journey back down the coast.
To register a ping, Contender’s dorsal fin must break water, and an Argos satellite must be close by to record the shark’s location.
From April to mid-June, Contender was pinged near the coast of the Outer Banks in North Carolina.
One sighting in June showed him roughly 22 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras.
In July, he continued his northward migration and was pinged off the coast of Massachusetts.
After a few months without any pings, Contender’s location was tracked in late September, south of Pointe-Parent in Quebec.
From October 27-29, he was pinged multiple times as he moved south from Canada back towards the US for the fall migration season.
Nearly two weeks later, he was pinged several miles off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
According to OCEARCH, each ping provides valuable information on white shark migration in the Western North Atlantic, and their team is closely monitoring his movements.
Contender is likely heading back to Florida where the waters are warmer and food sources are plentiful, but only time will tell where he will appear next.
For real-time tracking of Contender and other sharks and marine animals, you can use the free OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker app.
