Overview
- OCEARCH reports multiple recent pings along Florida’s Atlantic coast, most recently Thursday afternoon just north of Jacksonville.
- The shark, nicknamed Contender, also pinged about six miles off St. Augustine on March 12 after a southbound trek.
- Contender measures roughly 14 feet and around 1,700 pounds and is described by OCEARCH as the largest mature male they have tagged.
- Tagged near the Florida–Georgia border in January 2025, he migrated to Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence in summer before returning south.
- Scientists are increasing monitoring as his coastal proximity and the late winter to early spring window may align with mating activity, with no mating events or public-safety incidents reported.