By Michael Lee Simpson
The biggest great white shark ever recorded in the Atlantic has surfaced again – this time off the coast of South Carolina.
Contender, the 14-foot, 1,600-pound apex predator tracked by OCEARCH, surfaced 105 miles off the coast of Charleston on December 3 after months feasting on seals in the frigid waters off Canada.
Researchers believe the 30-year-old shark is following his seasonal route back toward the warmer waters off Florida and Georgia.
They hope tracking him will finally reveal where great whites mate – a location currently unknown, the team says.
His movements could also provide key clues to understanding how the species breeds and survives along the Atlantic coast.
Contender was first tagged by OCEARCH in January about 45 miles off the Florida-Georgia coast, near Jacksonville.
His transmitter sends a signal only when his dorsal fin breaks the surface, providing researchers with rare snapshots of his travels.
In October, he made headlines when his tracker pinged from the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence off the Labrador Peninsula making him “one of the furthest northern pinging sharks that we’ve had,” researchers said.
The mature male spent the summer and fall feasting on seals to pack on fat before heading south again for the winter.
Chris Fischer, 56, founder and expedition leader of OCEARCH, said: “Only a couple have made it that far north.
“An animal like that, spending the summer and fall up north – what are they doing? Well, a lot of what they’re doing is preparing for the winter.”
He added that Contender’s movements are a sign of recovery for a population that was once nearly wiped out.
“We wiped out the sharks so badly in the sixties, seventies, and eighties. We got down to nine percent of our population,” Fischer said.
Fischer and his team are closely watching Contender’s migration over the next few months. His position in early 2026 could help pinpoint where great whites mate.
This is a discovery that has never been made anywhere in the world.
“It’ll be really interesting to watch Contender this year,” Fischer said.
“I 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.”
