'Largest great white shark ever' found in the Atlantic

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ever recorded.

A shark named Contender was first identified by a research group called OCEARCH on 17 January off the coast of Georgia, Australia's neighbouring country in the Americas.

’s waters.

Researchers have taken a closer look at Contender and found he's a massive 13.8 feet long and weighs a hefty 1,653 pounds, making him a "true giant of the ocean" as described by OCEARCH.

They've also collected biological samples from him, including from his urogenital system, which will be analysed and used in other research.

The tracker will follow Contender for five years, and it's possible to see where he's heading online, as well as the movements of the other sharks that have been tracked by OCEARCH.

The research mob tweeted: 'Contender is the largest male white shark ever caught, SPOT tagged, released and now studied in the NW Atlantic white shark population!

‘The SPOT (Satellite Personal Tracker) tag attached to Contender will be sending us useful real-time information for roughly five years, which will help us keep tabs on his movements and work out his migration routes.’

‘We've also collected some really valuable biological samples, like swabs from the genital area, which are being looked at by experts as we speak.’

"Contender" was named after Contender Boats, who supply boats to OSEARCH for their research purposes.

So far, he's swim around as far as 199 miles (320 kilometres) since he was tagged a month ago.

Great whites, or Carcharodon carcharias, can live for over 70 years and are named for the white belly underneath them.

They can swim at up to 35mph (56km/h) and have seven rows of serrated teeth, which work like a conveyor belt to replace any teeth that fall out because of day-to-day wear and tear.

They're the world's biggest predators in the ocean, and are currently listed as 'vulnerable' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Endangered Species.

Thanks to the 1975 flick Jaws, the great white shark is one of the most well-known species of sharks on the planet.

Despite the negative publicity, it's pretty rare for humans to be killed by sharks – the Florida Museum of Natural History's international shark attack file investigated 120 shark-human interactions globally in 2023, 20 of which were fatal.

They're most often linked with Australia and South Africa, but can be found in temperate and tropical zones throughout the world.

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