Scientists have made a “rare” finding after catching the biggest great white shark ever recorded in the Atlantic. It is hoped the 750-kilogramme (1,653lbs) real-life Jaws, known as ‘Contender’, could help researchers discover one of the biggest mysteries around the world’s largest known predatory fish.
The almost 4.3-metre (14 feet) shark was first tagged by a marine research group in January, around 45 miles off the US south-east coast. Last week he was located in the northern waters of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, near Canada’s Labrador Peninsula, in the northern Atlantic Ocean. Researchers from OCEARCH believe the findings make Contender “one of the furthest northern pinging sharks that we’ve had.”
OCEARCH founder and expedition leader, Chris Fischer, said: “Only a couple have made it that far north. An animal like that, spending the summer and fall up north — what are they doing? Well, a lot of what they’re doing is preparing for the winter.”
He said Contender is “putting a lot of pressure on the seals, eating seals constantly, swimming in front of seal colonies, trying to put on some weight before he proceeds back down to Florida for the oncoming winter”.
Although Contender’s presence in the area might be bad news for seals, it is also helping the wider ecosystem.
Mr Fischer said: “The byproduct of putting that pressure on the seals is really good, they’re guarding our fish stocks.
“We know that if the white sharks are in front of the seals putting pressure on them, they eat one-fourth as much per day.”
“If that white shark’s not there, those seals go out and they wipe out all the fish,” he added.
The satellite tracker on the impressive predator, believed to be around 30-years-old, only ‘pings’ when its dorsal fin breaks the surface of the water.
He surfaced near Natashquan, Canada, on September 29 and then there was a “rare ping” from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence on October 2.
However, the movement was recorded by a “Z-ping” — a signal too weak to pinpoint his specific location due to only a brief surface.
Contender’s travels north highlights the impressive adaptability of great white sharks, Mr Fischer added.
“White sharks have the capacity to warm themselves and be in cold water, but they have to have a lot of food,” he explained.
“Like horses in winter – as long as they have food, they’re fine. If they run out of food, they freeze very quickly.”
Researchers hope Contender can play a key role in growing the great white population and also reveal the mystery of where they mate.
“We decimated the shark population so badly in the 60s, 70s and 80s – we got down to 9% of our population,” Mr Fischer said.
“These big mature males are hugely important because they can help us understand where and when mating is occurring.”
The expert added: “There’s never been a white shark mating site identified anywhere in the world in any one of the nine populations. It would be a first.”
Early data suggests waters off the US’ south-east coast could be a possible mating ground.
Despite Contender’s colossus size, he could get even bigger and reach around 6.1 metres (20 feet) in total.
“It’ll be really interesting to watch Contender this year,” Mr Fischer said.
“I want to know where Contender will be in March of 2026, in April of 2026. I think that could be a massive clue for identifying where they mate.”
Great white sharks can live for more than 70 years and are listed as being vulnerable to extinction.
