‘Biggest shark EVER tagged by researchers’ – 14ft 1,600lb great white goliath dubbed Contender – spotted off Florida

THE biggest shark ever tagged by researchers - dubbed Contender - has been spotted adjacent the Florida coast.

The 14ft whopper large achromatic is lurking successful the southwest Atlantic waters and being intimately tracked arsenic it follows the Gulf Stream south.

Biologists accidental the beast weighs astir 1,600lb - making it the largest ever tagged by probe radical OCEARCH successful the area.

The behemoth was archetypal tagged connected January 17 this twelvemonth astir 45 miles disconnected the Florida-Georgia border.

After that it swam northbound for 4 days earlier doubling backmost connected itself, according to data from Ocearch.

Contender past lingered for astir a week level with Jacksonville earlier heading straight south.

It has covered a immense 168 miles successful the 3 weeks the squad has been watching.

But Florida beach-goers don't request to beryllium acrophobic - yet.

Contender has stayed astatine slightest 40 miles from the seashore since being tagged, and appears to beryllium sticking to the eastbound borderline of the Florida platform.

This is the large, level slab of earth's crust that forms the Florida peninsula.

Contender was fitted with a SPOT tag, which is simply a "smart presumption and somesthesia tag".

From this, scientists person a "ping" each clip the shark's fin breaks the water's surface.

To get an close location, OCEARCH said the fin needs to beryllium supra h2o for astir 90 seconds.

The latest ping locates the immense shark arsenic level with St Augustine, and helium seems to beryllium pressing connected with its southward dash.

The tag attached by the probe squad volition transmit real-time information until the artillery dies, allowing them to show Contender's question and behaviour for astir 5 years.

OCEARCH's website describes Contender arsenic "the eventual water warrior" and says helium is simply a "mature male" specimen.

It besides uncover that his nickname is successful honour of Contender Boats - an aged spouse of the probe group.

According to biologists, sharks often sojourn the waters disconnected Florida during autumn and winter successful hunt of prey.

During the spring and summer months, the animals thin to caput northbound and further retired to sea.

There is simply a bully proviso of seals disconnected the northeast US and Canada, truthful this is simply a favourite destination amongst sharks.