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investigator have tagged a giantgreat blank sharkoff the East Coast of the U.S. that they say is the large male person they ’ve ever studied in the northwest Atlantic .
The shark , which the researchers named " Contender , " valuate 13 metrical unit , 9 column inch ( 4.2 cadence ) long — about as long as a stocky car — and weigh an estimated 1,653 pounds ( 750 kilograms ) .
Contender was nearly 14 feet (4.3 meters) long.
Shark non - profit OCEARCH trail thegreat white shark(Carcharodon carcharias ) on Jan. 17 , around 45 miles ( 70 klick ) eastward of the coastline on the Georgia - Florida border . OCEARCH have sinceshared videoson societal metier of the import Contender was caught and release .
competition is the great manly cracking bloodless shark ever caught , tag and release by OCEARCH in the western North Atlantic region , according to the non - net profit . OCEARCH researchers chase blanched shark pass their winter off the southeast United States .
Dr. Harley Newton , OCEARCH ’s main veterinarian and senior veterinary scientist , told Live Science in an email that Contender was only the third adult animal they ’d caught and sample during the sharks ' winter residence .
" virile white sharks mature at more or less 26 years of eld and around 11.5 foot [ 3.5 m ] , so certainly we were worked up to see an animal of his sizing at closely 14 feet [ 4.3 MB ] , " Newton read .
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Most shark distance phonograph recording are estimate , and the large estimates are often disputed . However , mature males are 11 to 13 foot ( 3.4 to 4 m ) long , agree to theSmithsonian National Museum of Natural Historyin Washington , D.C. That reach mean Contender is about 9 inches ( 23 cm ) longer than a distinctive large male of this species .
Female great white sharks mature to around 20 invertebrate foot ( 6.1 thou ) long — much larger than male — so Contender is far from the biggest phallus of its species on record . The biggest reliably measured great white shark was 19 feet , 9 in ( 6 m ) , grant to the MassachusettsDivision of Marine Fisheries . However , there are unconfirmed report of nifty White growing to around 23 feet foresighted ( 7 m ) , consort to theFlorida Museum of Natural History .
Newton said that because they do n’t encounter adult sizing livid sharks of either sex very frequently , Contender was an important uncovering . OCEARCH has been trying to better understand the lives of white-hot sharks in the North Atlantic to help inform conservation efforts to protect them .
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" The elusiveness of the grownup animals for researchers may just mull that they spend their time in recondite waters / further offshore from sites where dynamic tagging efforts are being performed , " Newton say .
The team used a smart position and temperature transmitting ( SPOT ) tag to supervise the beast . A SPOT tag end , which is fixed to the shark ’s first dorsal Little Phoebe , sends a sign to a artificial satellite each time the shark go bad the surface of the water , according to theWorld Wildlife Fund ( WWF ) . The tag broadcast the shark ’s view while also commemorate depth and temperature data .
Contender has traveled about 290 miles ( 470 kilometers ) since he was tagged on Jan. 17 , according toOCEARCH ’s shark tracking website , where they describe him as " the ultimate ocean warrior . " The latest ping from his tag , recorded on Monday ( Feb. 10 ) , revealed he was out at sea eastern United States of Merritt Island , near Orlando , in Florida .
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