Where biggest great white shark ever recorded in Atlantic has been as it's headed for tourist hotspot

There's still a five whole months to wait until we can track Santa, so why don't we track a the Atlantic's biggest great white shark in the meantime?

The largest great white shark recorded in the Atlantic ocean, Contender, who measures in at almost 14ft and weighs an estimated 1,653 pounds, has been making headlines ever since he was fitted with a tracker by researchers from OCEARCH at the beginning of 2025.

Researchers are alerted when the shark's dorsal fin breaks the surface of the water.

And although the big lad had been quiet for a while, on July 8, he gave off a 'Z-Ping' while above water, but only for a moment.

Unfortunately, a 'Z-Ping' is 'a weak non-locational ping,' experts say, so his co-ordinates couldn't be accurately located.

However, researchers believe he was heading north for the summer to tourist hotspot Cape Cod or Atlantic Canada.

But where else has he visited on his journey?

The great white is a whopping 14ft long (Picture: OCEARCH)

Locations great white shark Contender has visited

Luckily for those invested in the great white's journey, you can head over to the OCEARCH tracker to see where he's been on his travels - as he's thought to have traveled over 7000 miles since being tracked.

Before we get into that, it's important to note why he was tagged - as well as hundreds of other sharks.

OCEARCH say: "The SPOT tag deployed on Contender will provide valuable real-time data for approximately five years, helping us track his movements and understand his migration patterns. Additionally, we've collected important biological samples, including urogenital material, which are currently being analyzed."

His first ping, was when his tracker was fitted, on January 17, where he pinged offshore of the FL/GA border.

His most recent ping, which wasn't a 'Z-Ping' happened on April 24, 2026, off the coast of North Carolina - but he's been to a number of places in between.

Researchers recently received a 'Z-Ping' from the shark (Picture: OCEARCH)

After 'taking off' in January 2025, the shark had a number of pings off northeast Florida and Georgia.

He then 'ventured out' in April that year, with pings registering in the North Carolina region.

Then, on Friday, July 18 2025, almost a year to the day, a ping came in the waters east of Massachusetts, between Nantucket Shoals and Georges Bank.

It seemed like he wanted a change of scenery in October last year, as he pinged south of Pointe-Parent, in the province of Quebec.

It was then back to Florida, before his latest 'full ping' located him off the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

We wonder where he'll go next!