Contender surfaces after months of silence
The largest great white shark ever documented in the Atlantic Ocean has been detected heading toward a popular US tourist destination after vanishing from satellite trackers for months. The 14-foot, 1,700-pound (over 770 kg) predator, named Contender, was tagged and tracked by the shark research group OCEARCH in January. It disappeared from trackers in April when it submerged deep underwater. A weak satellite signal on July 7 indicated its fin had briefly broken the surface, but researchers cannot pinpoint its exact location.
Migratory pattern toward Cape Cod and Canada
OCEARCH scientists believe Contender is following a typical seasonal migration northward. A spokesperson for OCEARCH stated: “White sharks in the western North Atlantic typically migrate north and spend the summer and early fall foraging in the waters of Cape Cod or Atlantic Canada. These two regions offer comfortable water temperatures and an abundant food supply, in particular abundant seals and large fish species.” Since being tagged, Contender has traveled 7,000 miles between Florida and the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Canada.
Tracking challenges and satellite limitations
The shark’s location is only detectable when its fin-mounted tag breaks the surface long enough to transmit to Argos satellites. The OCEARCH team explained: “The Z-ping is a weak non-locational ping. It typically occurs when the shark’s fin-mounted tag is briefly at the surface and just one single message is received by an overhead Argos satellite. Normally three or more messages are needed during a single satellite pass to calculate a reliable location. As Shark Tracker shows, we received a non-locational Z-ping from Contender on July 7. The last actual location for Contender was on April 23 when he was off the Outer Banks of North Carolina.”
Climate change implications for British waters
The sighting comes amid warnings from climate experts that great white sharks and jellyfish may appear in British waters as ocean temperatures rise. Jim Dale, an oceanographer and founder of British Weather Services, told the Daily Mirror: “We're bound to see species die, and species pop up that ordinarily weren't there before.”
