This hiant shark is heading to Florida's beaches—Should you be worried?

Thousand college students are getting ready to make their way to Florida beaches for spring break. Scientists are also monitoring a colossal great white shark making its way south. Contender, the shark, is an enormous 1,653-pound creature, traveling down the coast.

Contender is a massive 13 feet, 9 inches in length. The shark was tagged by OCEARCH in January when it swam into the Florida-Georgia border. Contender has been migrating south on the coast since then. As of Thursday, Contender was only a few miles off Sebastian, Florida. It is the largest shark ever tracked by OCEARCH.

OCEARCH chief scientist Dr. Harley Newton described why it's so important to monitor sharks such as Contender to learn about their breeding habits and migration. The shark carries a unique tag that will yield real-time information for approximately five years, Fox news reported.

Another shark headed south

Contender is not alone in the southbound migration. Another great white shark, Dold, weighing 761 pounds and 11 feet in length, is also migrating. Dold was most recently spotted near Hobe Sound, some 100 miles in front of Contender. Dold is named after Dr. Christopher Dold of SeaWorld, an ocean conservationist. Monitoring sharks such as Dold and Contender yields significant information on their behavior and migration patterns.

While these massive predators travel along the coast, experts emphasize that shark encounters are very uncommon. During 2024, there were just 47 reported shark bites across the globe, and one death in the U.S. Scientists assure people that sharks do not target humans as food.

Why sharks are essential to ocean's ecosystem?

Even though sharks might intimidate us, they are essential for the health of ocean ecosystems. They regulate populations of other animals in the sea, just like lions regulate the population of wildebeest in the Serengeti. Monitoring sharks such as Contender and Dold helps researchers to gain better knowledge about sharks' hunting activities, migration routes.

Even though they are big and strong, sharks are not dangerous to people. Scientists believe that Contender and Dold will be keeping such a distance from the beaches that nobody will be in danger during their spring break.