Great White Shark Contender Detected Again After Months Without Signal

A 14-foot great white shark named Contender sent a weak Z-ping signal from its fin-mounted tag on Wednesday after last surfacing in April off North Carolina's Pamlico Sound. GB News reported that Ocearch scientists received only one message from the Argos satellite, which is insufficient to calculate a reliable location.

Contender was first caught and tagged in January approximately 45 miles off the Florida coast.

The shark then traveled more than 7,000 miles north to the Gulf of St. Lawrence off the Canadian coast before the April disappearance. An Ocearch spokesman stated that white sharks in the western North Atlantic typically migrate north to forage in Cape Cod or Atlantic Canada during summer and early fall, where water temperatures are comfortable and seals and large fish are abundant.

The Z-ping occurs when the tag is briefly at the surface and only one message reaches the satellite, unlike the three or more messages normally required for positioning. Ocearch released footage of the initial capture that showed the shark's size, jaws, and jet-black eyes.

A study published in The Conversation blog noted that rising ocean temperatures could make British seas suitable habitat for great white sharks, though no concrete proof confirms their presence in those waters.

The closest confirmed specimen was a female caught off La Rochelle in the Bay of Biscay in 1977, 193 miles from Land's End.