Contender vanished north to Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence and has returned to Florida waters after a 1,000+ mile odyssey, covering thousands of miles along the Atlantic coast. According to Metro - Main, John P. Tyminski described the shark's movements as very interesting, going all the way up into the Gulf of St. Lawrence during the summer and coming all the way back down.
Contender most recently pinged last week approximately six miles off St. Augustine, Florida, and returned to shore on March 12 at peak breeding season. His mid-February location was off Cape Fear, North Carolina, where researchers monitored his southward migration. According to Metro - Main, John P. Tyminski described Contender's recent move as bringing him closer to shore, with his current location significant due to his proximity to shore and the timing of his return to Florida waters, which has brought him much closer to the coastline than his previous positions further north.
OCEARCH researchers originally tagged Contender offshore of the Florida-Georgia border on January 17 of last year. Contender's movement patterns could provide crucial insights into the reproductive biology of great white sharks, though where exactly great white sharks mate remains unknown. According to Metro - Main, John P. Tyminski described that scientists hypothesize mating likely occurs or could occur in the late winter, early spring period, and tracking mature sharks like Contender is invaluable for conservation efforts, though what specific conservation efforts are being informed by this tracking is unclear.