In the grand scheme of things, a 14-foot great white shark is not all that unusual. That is until you consider that 14 feet is actually exceptional for a male great white shark, which only grow to 11-13 feet on average. Females, on the other hand, grow to around 16 feet and larger. This all makes Contender, a 14-foot long, 1,600-pound male great white shark patrolling the Atlantic, an incredibly unique animal. He’s the largest-ever great white recorded in the Atlantic Ocean and he’s recently resurfaced near Ocean City, New Jersey.
Contender was tagged off the coast of Florida back in January and has spent 2025 covering thousands of miles up to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and back down the U.S. East Coast once again. According to OCEARCH, who tracks every one of Contender’s pings, he’s traveled more than 4,000 miles since researchers first put a tag on him.
“Although we have tagged and released a number of sharks as part of this project, animals of adult size have proven elusive,” Harley Newton, OCEARCH’s chief scientist and veterinarian, said back in February. “Male white sharks are mature at around 11.5 feet and 26 years of age, so Contender at nearly 14 feet is an adult male probably in his early 30s 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.”
He’s “as big as they get,” Wildlife Biologist Rosie Moore told Fox News, adding that “these sharks like to hang out pretty far off the coast. Not necessarily in areas that people swim or hang out in.” According to Moore, Contender’s moving south now for a seasonal change in diet. During the summer months, when he was up north, he was likely feeding off of seals. “Now they’re gonna be moving down here, feasting off tuna, large fish, and cetaceans.”