The largest male great white shark ever recorded has appeared in a highly unexpected location after being tagged in Florida earlier this year.
Dubbed “Contender”, the colossal predator was discovered swimming off Florida’s east coast when ocean research organisation OCEARCH successfully tagged him on January 17, 2025.
Tipping the scales at 1,653 pounds and stretching an incredible 13 feet and 9 inches, Contender has been hailed as “a true ocean giant”.
Now, he’s emerged in Canadian waters after travelling 3,120 miles.
The massive shark has embarked on an extraordinary journey, making his way from Florida all the way to Atlantic Canada in what represents one of the northernmost movements tracked for great whites in the Atlantic Ocean, reports the Express US.
Contender’s position in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence is unprecedented for OCEARCH, according to Chris Fischer, founder and expedition leader of the non-profit.
“Contender is up off the Labrador Peninsula right now,” Fischer explained to The Weather Network.
“He’s in a place that we’ve never tracked a shark to, and he’s also right on the northern edge of what’s considered the white shark range,” he added.
The great white shark is regarded as the deadliest of its species.
Whilst the notion of a gigantic great white swimming in Canadian waters might not be particularly reassuring, it is actually positive news. Fischer explained that sharks play a crucial role in maintaining a healthy marine ecosystem.
“All these white sharks move up north every summer and fall to guard your fish stocks,” Fischer said.
The sharks help to sustain a healthy and diverse ocean by keeping seal populations under control.
OCEARCH is attempting to fill knowledge gaps in relation to poorly misunderstood species like the great white.
The research organisation safely tags sharks with satellite and acoustic trackers which are attached to their dorsal fins.
They transmit real-time location data accessible to the public and scientists.
Researchers have already learned that shark movements are closely tied to seasonal changes.
Fischer explained that the autumn equinox signals the beginning of the sharks migration.
“We just passed through the fall equinox, which triggers that movement,” he said.
“We already have five sharks south of Cape Cod just since the equinox. They feel it. The equinoxes and solstices drive their lives.”
Contender is named after OCEARCH’s partner Contender Boats.
He was tagged by the researchers 45 miles offshore.
“Although we have tagged and released a number of sharks as part of this project, animals of adult size have proven elusive,” Dr Harley Newton, OCEARCH’s chief veterinarian and senior veterinary scientist, told Oceanographic after Contender was tagged.
“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,” she added.
“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.”
