Biggest great white shark ever in Atlantic resurfaces as experts warn it's headed for tourist hotspot in US

The largest Great White Shark ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean could be heading for a popular tourist spot.

Contender is the largest Great White Shark recorded in the Atlantic ocean at 14ft, though he still has some growing to do if he's going to match Deep Blue, the biggest ever estimated at a whopping 20ft after being spotted near Hawaii.

The 14ft shark was fitted with a tracker by researchers from OCEARCH in January 2025 which sends out a signal when the dorsal fin breaks the surface of the water.

Tagging sharks allows researchers to gather data on the species, including migration patterns and how often they interact with other sharks.

Contender had not popped up on the trackers for several months after previously surfacing off Pamlico Sound off the coast of North Carolina in the US back in April.

But on July 8, Contender once again broke the surface, giving off a 'Z-ping' meaning that he was only at the surface for a brief period.

Contender the Shark (SWNS)

That means that his precise location is not clear, but experts believe that he is enroute either to Cape Cod or Atlantic Canada, where there is an abundance of his favourite food.

A spokesperson for OCEARCH said: "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."

They added: "The last actual location for Contender was on April 23 when he was off the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

"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.

Contender measured at 14ft long (SWNS)

"These two regions offer comfortable water temperatures and an abundant food supply, in particular abundant seals and large fish species."

Great Whites hunt larger prey such as pinnipeds, that's seals and sea lions, and have also been observed opportunistically scavenging on whale carcasses.

Despite their large size and fearsome reputation Great Whites, or White Sharks, do still have something to fear from one animal in the ocean.

This is of course those monochromatic marine menaces - orcas.

Orcas have been confirmed to deliberately hunt the enormous sharks, with one pod in particular appearing to develop a fondness for their livers.

Contender's large size was documented when he was tagged on January 17 2025 around 45 miles off the Georgia-Florida border, and he has since swam over 7,000 miles.