Nicknamed ‘Contender’, the massive shark was swimming off Florida’s east coast when OCEARCH managed to tag the individual on January 17, 2025. Weighing 1,653 pounds and measuring 13 feet and 9 inches, the male shark is the largest ever recorded by OCEARCH in the Atlantic.

On social media, OCEARCH called ‘Contender’ “a true ocean giant”.

“Although we have tagged and released a number of sharks as part of this project, animals of adult size have proven elusive,” said Dr Harley Newton, OCEARCH’s chief veterinarian and senior veterinary scientist, in an interview with Oceanographic.

She added: “Male white sharks are mature at around 11.5 feet and 26 years of age, so Contender at 14 feet is an adult male probably in his early 30’s and early in his reproductive life.  He is an important part of the effective breeding population and will hopefully contribute to the rebuilding of the western North Atlantic white shark population.” 

‘Contender’, named after the non-profit’s partner Contender Boats, was tagged by the researchers 45 miles offshore to learn more about the species’ behaviours and migration patterns.

As part of their tagging project, OCEARCH fishes for great white sharks by using continuously monitored baited break away drumlines. When an animal, like Contender, takes the bait and is hooked, the researchers then retrieve the line which is attached to a buoy and use that line to bring the animal to the side of their boat.

“When the animal is at the side of the boat we measure it, collect samples for health, reproduction, diet, nutrition, toxicology and genetic studies, perform an ultrasound, and then attach two types of satellite tags to track their movements at the surface of the water with a SPOT (smart position and temperature) tag on the dorsal fin, and beneath the water with a PSAT (pop-up satellite archival tag) temporarily attached to the body wall next to the dorsal fin,” explained Dr Newton. 

The collected biological samples from the great white shark, including urogenital system samples, will now be analysed in the laboratory, while the fin-mounted SPOT tag will provide GPS location information on this shark’s travels for up to five years.

“It only provides locations when the shark is at the surface but Contender seems to be a shark that spends time there every few days so we hear from him regularly,” said Dr Newton. 

“When Contender is at the surface he can be tracked in near real-time by anyone using OCEARCH’s free desktop tracker and smart phone apps. The pop-up satellite tag will come off in 6 months and tell us where he spent time when beneath the surface, what depths he visited and what temperatures he preferred.

“We hope that Contender along with the other 94 sharks we have tagged and released as part of the western North Atlantic white shark project will add to what we know about white sharks movements and habitat use in this part of the Atlantic Ocean and assist in conservation and policy efforts for white sharks and other North Atlantic shark species.”

The shark has since travelled 292 miles further out to sea and south towards northern Florida.

According to OCEARCH’s online tracking platform which gives real-time updates provided by the shark’s tag, the shark swam off St. Augustine last Friday. When the shark’s dorsal fin breaches long enough for satellites to record the location, the tag sends its location to OCEARCH.

 

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Coming across great white sharks is not surprising in this region as the species is known to migrate along the east coast. When water temperatures drop and food becomes scarce, great whites migrate south from Cape Cod in New England.

You can follow Contender’s journey on OCEARCH’s tracker platform here and for the latest updates on Contender and other tagged sharks, you can download the OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker™ app. 

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