Right now, this massive shark has found its way back to the Sunshine State.<\/p>\n
That shark \u2014 a great white nicknamed \u201cContender<\/a>\u201d \u2014 stretches nearly 14 feet and weighs well over 1,600 pounds, making him the largest male of his kind ever to be recorded in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n According to OCEARCH, Contender was first tagged in January last year, roughly 45 miles off the coast near Florida and Georgia.<\/p>\n \u201cContender\u2019s name is in honor of Contender Boats, a longtime OCEARCH partner, whose industry-leading sport fishing and pleasure boats enable our research missions,\u201d OCEARCH\u2019s website reads.<\/p>\n Photo of Contender (Image by @OCEARCH) (OCEARCH)<\/p>\n After he was first tagged, Contender swam back north \u2014 all the way up to the Gulf of St. Lawrence near Canada back in October<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the research group\u2019s shark tracker<\/a> shows that Contender was most recently pinged on Monday morning offshore Florida.<\/p>\n The tracker reveals that Contender has made his way south past Daytona Beach, leading him down the coast off of Sebastian.<\/p>\n Another photo of “Contender” (Image by @OCEARCH) (OCEARCH)<\/p>\n Tracker data also shows that Contender stuck around the area until roughly mid-March last year, meaning he likely won\u2019t stick around long before migrating back to Canada.<\/p>\n According to state wildlife officials<\/a>, many shark species in Florida typically head north during the spring and summer, going back south once fall and winter roll around.<\/p>\n \u201cThis pattern explains why shark activity is at its peak in Florida waters during April through October, which coincidentally, is also the time period that humans are more likely to be in the water,\u201d the FWC reports. \u201cYet shark bites still remain very rare.\u201d<\/p>\n [BELOW: Why is Volusia County the \u2018Shark Bite Capital?\u2019]<\/p>\n