{"id":200216,"date":"2025-10-09T13:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T13:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/200216\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T13:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T13:33:08","slug":"contender-atlantic-biggest-great-white-shark-surfaces-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/200216\/","title":{"rendered":"Contender, Atlantic biggest great white shark surfaces in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"SWNS\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The biggest great white shark<\/a> ever recorded in the Atlantic has resurfaced just off the coast of Canada \u2013 where he is plumping up on seals ahead of winter.<\/p>\n

Contender, a 14-foot beast, was tagged in the North Atlantic by OCEARCH in January <\/a>\u2013 a non-profit organization that conducts research on large marine animals \u2013 45 miles off the Florida-Georgia coast, off Jacksonville.<\/p>\n

His tracker only transmits a locating signal when the shark\u2019s dorsal fin is briefly exposed above the water\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n

And last week it \u2018pinged\u2019 from the far northern reaches of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, right off the Labrador Peninsula in Canada \u2013 making him \u201cone of the furthest northern pinging sharks that we\u2019ve had\u201d say researchers.<\/p>\n

The 1,653-pound creature, estimated to be around 30 years old, is in the area gorging on seals through summer and fall, to build fat for his return to Florida in winter.<\/a><\/p>\n

Contender, the 14-foot great white shark, was studied in the North Atlantic Ocean on June 11, 2025. OCEARCH \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

Scientists at OCEARCH hope tracking Contender will reveal the world\u2019s first known great white shark<\/a> mating site.<\/p>\n

Chris Fischer, 56, founder and expedition leader of OCEARCH, said: \u201cOnly a couple have made it that far north.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn animal like that, spending the summer and fall up north \u2013 what are they doing? Well, a lot of what they\u2019re doing is preparing for the winter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fischer said that Contender is \u201cputting 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\u201d.<\/p>\n

Contender\u2019s tracker only transmits a locating signal when the shark\u2019s dorsal fin is briefly exposed above the water\u2019s surface. OCEARCH \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

The 1,653-pound creature, estimated to be around 30 years old, is in the area gorging on seals through summer and fall, to build fat for his return to Florida in winter. OCEARCH \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

And he says this behavior has an unexpected environmental benefit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe byproduct of putting that pressure on the seals is really good, they\u2019re guarding our fish stocks,\u201d Fischer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that if the white sharks are in front of the seals putting pressure on them, they eat one-fourth as much per day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIf that white shark\u2019s not there, those seals go out and they wipe out all the fish.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Contender\u2019s presence in such cold northern waters demonstrates the remarkable adaptability of great whites, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhite sharks have the capacity to warm themselves and be in cold water, but they have to have a lot of food,\u201d Fischer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLike horses in winter \u2014 as long as they have food, they\u2019re fine. If they run out of food, they freeze very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contender, was tagged off the Florida-Georgia coast, in January.<\/p>\n

Contender\u2019s presence in such cold northern waters demonstrates the remarkable adaptability of great whites. OCEARCH \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

And after going off the radar for nearly a month he pinged off Pamlico Sound in North Carolina \u2013 twice in one day.<\/p>\n

Then he didn\u2019t \u2018ping\u2019 during a huge long journey up north, until he surfaced off Natashquan, Canada on September 29.<\/p>\n

There was a z-ping\u00a0\u2013 when the shark spends only a brief period of time at the surface but not enough to determine an accurate location \u2013 on October 2.<\/p>\n

Tagged off the Florida-Georgia coast in January, Contender represents hope for a recovering population that was decimated decades ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe wiped out the sharks so badly in the seventies, eighties, and sixties \u2014 we got down to nine percent of our population,\u201d Fischer said.<\/p>\n

What makes Contender particularly valuable to researchers is his potential to unlock one of marine biology\u2019s greatest mysteries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThese big mature males are hugely important because they can help us understand where and when mating is occurring,\u201d Fischer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unlike females, which have complex two-year migratory cycles, \u201cthe male white sharks basically have their whole year revolve around mating,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

And after going off the radar for nearly a month he pinged off Pamlico Sound in North Carolina \u2013 twice in one day. OCEARCH \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

Unlike females, which have complex two-year migratory cycles, \u201cthe male white sharks basically have their whole year revolve around mating.\u201d OCEARCH \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

The tracking data from Contender\u2019s satellite tag, which will function for five years, could lead to an unprecedented scientific breakthrough.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s never been a white shark mating site identified anywhere in the world in any one of the nine populations,\u201d Fischer said. \u201cIt would be a first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fischer\u2019s team is particularly focused on Contender\u2019s movements in the coming months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The shark\u2019s location next spring could provide crucial evidence for identifying mating grounds, with early data suggesting activity off the southeastern United States.<\/p>\n

Despite his formidable size, Contender still has room to grow \u2013 possibly over 20 feet in total.<\/p>\n

Fischer is particularly interested to see what Contender will look like \u201c30 or 40 years from now,\u201d noting the mammoth animal is around 30 to 35 years old and can live to be over 70.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be really interesting to watch Contender this year,\u201d Fischer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The biggest great white shark ever recorded in the Atlantic has resurfaced just off the coast of Canada…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[7382,49,48,41189,31002,66,4778,886,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-200216","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-atlantic-ocean","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-great-white-sharks","12":"tag-marine-life","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-sharks","15":"tag-us-news","16":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}