Latest news with #GlobalSharkTracker
Daily Mirror
22-07-2025
- Daily Mirror
World's biggest great white shark heads for Martha's Vineyard beach in major tourist warning
OCEARCH, a non-profit research organisation that tracks marine animals, tagged the 30-year-old male great white shark named "Contender" in the waters east of Massachusetts The world's biggest shark is heading straight towards Martha's Vineyard in the US, after being pinged near an affluent tourist destination. The 14ft predator, which weighs a whopping 1,653 pounds, was recently detected on Friday afternoon, around 50 miles off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. OCEARCH, a non-profit research organisation that tracks marine animals, tagged the 30-year-old male named "Contender" in the waters east of Massachusetts, between Nantucket Shoals and Georges Bank. It was seen heading towards the wealthy holiday destination of Martha's Bay, home to celebrities and multi-millionaires. Former US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama own a £10million mansion on the island. OCEARCH first tagged the shark in the North Atlantic, 45 miles off the Florida-Georgia coast, off Jacksonville. It took six people, including three fishermen and scientists, to tag and release "Contender", which is then electronically tracked through the Argos satellite system, according to Dr Harley Newton, OCEARCH Chief Scientist & Veterinarian. The predator can be tracked through OCEARCH's Global Shark Tracker app, where anyone can follow the animal as it moves. The animal has been pinged several times, including on January 26 and February 6, which means the tag attached to the fin was spotted above the surface for a brief period of time as it swam. It was last pinged on June 7. Dr Harley Newton, OCEARCH Chief Scientist & Veterinarian, previously told The Mirror there were some tourist hotspots the shark might visit. She said: "This is the exciting question about Contender, as this is the first season we will be able to watch him migrate to a summer/fall foraging area. "Although there are many places in the Northeastern US and Canada where he could go, there are two primary locations where many white sharks spend the summer: Cape Cod, Massachusetts or Nova Scotia, Canada. "Though Contender is an adult male white shark, and the largest we at OCEARCH have ever tagged and sampled in the Northwest Atlantic, but he is certainly not the largest male white shark ever caught. "Contender was 13 feet 9 inches total length and estimated to weigh 1653 lbs. But male white sharks can grow up to 18 feet. "The adult age class animals have been more elusive than smaller, younger, age classes so we were excited to have the opportunity to tag, sample and release him. Based on our Global Shark tracker, he has travelled 1870 miles to date from the place he was first tagged and released. We won't know until he shows us, which is all the more reason to follow him on the tracker."
Daily Mirror
19-06-2025
- Science
- Daily Mirror
World's biggest shark tracker live as 14ft monster mapped after tourist alert
"Contender", the world's largest great white shark, is being tracked by scientists at OCEARCH, and the predator can now be followed on their fascinating Global Shark Tracker app Users across the globe can follow the movements of the world's largest 14-ft great white shark - which has already covered an epic 1,870 miles. Scientists at OCEARCH, a non-profit organisation that researches large marine animals, have been tracking "Contender", the 30-year-old adult male shark, since January. The predator was first tagged in the North Atlantic, 45 miles off the Florida-Georgia coast, off Jacksonville. The beast is a staggering 13ft and 9 inches long and estimated to weigh a whopping 1653 lbs. It took six people, including three fishermen and scientists, to tag and release "Contender", which is then electronically tracked through the Argos satellite system, according to Dr Harley Newton, OCEARCH Chief Scientist & Veterinarian. The predator can be tracked through OCEARCH's Global Shark Tracker app, where anyone can follow the animal as it moves. The animal has been pinged several times, including on January 26 and February 6, which means the tag attached to the fin was spotted above the surface for a brief period of time as it swam. It was last pinged on June 7. Dr Newton told The Mirror: "The team that tags and releases the animals is composed of 3 fishermen and 3 scientists, so 6 people total. After tag and release the tag reports in electronically through the Argos satellite system and one person, our Senior Data Scientist keeps track of the animal movements. "But that information is shared opening through our Global Shark Tracker app and anyone can follow these animals as they move. "The challenges with tagging and release are what you would expect for research that involves fishing. The weather windows are short and sometimes far between in the winter in the southeastern US, so that's our biggest challenge. "Though we choose the locations we fish based on water temperatures, bottom structure and other oceanographic features that we believe white sharks prefer, there is never a guarantee that there is a white shark in the area. We at times encounter large white sharks that choose to only investigate our boat but aren't interested in the bait we have to offer, avoiding capture. "After tagging the biggest challenge is whether the animal will surface long enough to allow the satellite linked tag we put on the dorsal fin to communicate and give a location. This can also be impacted by growth of algae and other material on the surface of the tag which can increase with time or if the animal spends a lot of time in warm water." According to the expert, Contender could visit many places in the Northeastern US and Canada, including some tourist hotspots. Although there are "two primary locations" where he might be spotted in the summer, it remains an exciting mystery. Dr Newton added: "This the exciting question about Contender, as this is the first season we will be able to watch him migrate to a summer/fall foraging area. "Although there are many places in the Northeastern US and Canada where he could go, there are two primary locations where many white sharks spend the summer: Cape Cod, Massachusetts or Nova Scotia, Canada. "We won't know until he shows us, which is all the more reason to follow him on the tracker." The shark can be tracked here.
