A huge white shark, thought to be the largest of its kind ever seen in the Atlantic, is heading for the east coast of the US, drawing the interest of the scientific community and the public.

The male cetacean, named Contender, is about 4.3 meters long and weighs more than 750 kilograms, and is estimated to be about 30 years old.

According to nypost.com, Contender was first spotted in January by a research team from OCEARCH, a nonprofit organization that specializes in studying large marine animals. The sighting was made about 73 kilometers off the coast of Florida and Georgia, near Jacksonville.

After a month of “silence”, as its satellite transmitter only works when its dorsal fin surfaces, the shark reappeared last week off Pamlico Sound in North Carolina.

The migratory journey north

The Contender appears to have begun its typical seasonal migration to the northernmost coasts of the United States and Canada, a journey that can reach up to 1,700 kilometers.

They could be up to 1,700 miles in length.

As OCEARCH chief veterinarian Dr. Harley Newton explains, great white sharks move from southern regions to more food-rich northern waters at this time of year.

“We often see great white sharks passing off the Outer Banks just before continuing north.
The area seems to act as a feedback station before their long journey,” Dr. Newton said.

How Contender is being monitored

Contender is tracked via a SPOT satellite tag attached to its dorsal fin, which emits GPS tracking signals whenever the shark surfaces.
This data is displayed on OCEARCH’s global shark tracker, providing valuable information to both scientists and the public.

The “tagging” was done with great care: the Contender was temporarily immobilized next to the research vessel, biological samples were collected and then returned to its natural habitat without any injuries.

What monitoring a shark offers

Contender’s migration offers a unique opportunity for scientific observation and improved conservation policies for sharks, which face significant threats such as overfishing, climate change, and degradation of their natural environment.

Great white sharks are top predators, critical to the balance of marine ecosystems as they regulate prey populations.

Data collected from monitoring Contender and other “tagged” sharks is helping to better understand their behavior, migration patterns, and needs, promoting their conservation at an international level.