{"id":526966,"date":"2026-07-15T07:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T07:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/526966\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T07:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T07:58:09","slug":"ocearchs-largest-tagged-great-white-shark-reappears-off-us-east-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/526966\/","title":{"rendered":"Ocearch\u2019s largest tagged great white shark reappears off US East Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"uXGlmRGscvPe\" style=\"display:none\">The male shark briefly transmitted data from its satellite tag on July 11 (local time), confirming it is still alive and active somewhere off the United States East Coast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"uXGlmRGscvPe\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cEvery ping from Contender gives us a window into the life of a mature male white shark \u2013 how he moves, feeds, and contributes to the population\u2019s recovery,\u201d Ocearch founder Chris Fischer said in a previous post about the shark.<\/p>\n<p class=\"uXGlmRGscvPe\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cHis journey connects Florida to Canada, and his story represents the power of collaboration between science, innovation, and the public who follow him in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"uXGlmRGscvPe\" style=\"display:none\">Contender has travelled thousands of kilometres along the eastern seaboard of the United States since first being tagged, moving north through waters off North Carolina, New Jersey and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, following the seasonal migration patterns typical of large great whites.<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Contender has travelled thousands of kilometres along the eastern seaboard of the United States since first being tagged. Photo \/ Ocearch\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Contender has travelled thousands of kilometres along the eastern seaboard of the United States since first being tagged. Photo \/ Ocearch<\/p>\n<p class=\"uXGlmRGscvPe\" style=\"display:none\">Before the latest transmission, the shark had not been detected since late April 2026, when tracking data placed it off the coast of North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p class=\"uXGlmRGscvPe\" style=\"display:none\">Despite the excitement surrounding the new signal, researchers were unable to determine Contender\u2019s exact location.<\/p>\n<p class=\"uXGlmRGscvPe\" style=\"display:none\">The transmission was classified as a \u201cZ-ping\u201d, meaning the shark surfaced only briefly before diving again. Because the tagged fin was only above the water for a few moments, the satellite tracking system could not collect enough information to calculate a precise position.<\/p>\n<p><img  alt=\"Contender \u2013 the shark\u2019s nickname \u2013 is a 4.2m great white estimated to weigh about 750kg. Photo \/ Ocearch\" class=\"article-media__image responsively-lazy\" data-test-ui=\"article-media__image\"\/>Contender \u2013 the shark\u2019s nickname \u2013 is a 4.2m great white estimated to weigh about 750kg. Photo \/ Ocearch<\/p>\n<p class=\"uXGlmRGscvPe\" style=\"display:none\">Scientists say the brief signal nevertheless confirms that Contender continues to roam the western North Atlantic, potentially near US coastal waters and possibly exploring emerging feeding grounds for great white sharks, according to Ocearch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"uXGlmRGscvPe\" style=\"display:none\">Its movements are helping researchers build a clearer picture of how great white sharks use critical habitats along the eastern coast of North America. <\/p>\n<p class=\"uXGlmRGscvPe\" style=\"display:none\">Previous Ocearch research has found that 88% of great white sharks tagged in the southeastern United States eventually travel to Atlantic Canada, highlighting the region\u2019s importance as a seasonal feeding and residency area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The male shark briefly transmitted data from its satellite tag on July 11 (local time), confirming it is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526967,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[74,111305,11586,29711,3806,16773,19136,6267,3234,111,139,529,69,260501,6662,126853,181060,147,7971,151119,3040,16550,406],"class_list":["post-526966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-after","tag-atlantic","tag-coast","tag-disappearing","tag-east","tag-great","tag-largest","tag-male","tag-months","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-north","tag-nz","tag-ocearchs","tag-off","tag-reappears","tag-resurfaced","tag-science","tag-shark","tag-tagged","tag-us","tag-white","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}