the staff of the Ridgewood blog
MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ — Life imitated art in a chillingly timely way this summer as an 11-foot great white shark named Dold was tracked just off the Jersey Shore on June 20, 2025—the first official day of summer and the 50th anniversary of Jaws, the original summer blockbuster.
The shark’s satellite tag “pinged” around 6:40 a.m., placing Dold 40 to 50 miles off the coast of Monmouth County, New Jersey. That’s nearly the same area that inspired author Peter Benchley’s fictional novel Jaws, which was later adapted into Steven Spielberg’s iconic film released on June 20, 1975.
While Jaws was set in the fictional Amity Island, the story was loosely based on real shark attacks along the New Jersey coast in 1916 in Beach Haven, Spring Lake, and Matawan.
🦈 Meet Dold: Jersey Shore’s Latest Apex Visitor
Dold is an 11-foot, 2-inch, 761-pound sub-adult male great white shark that was tagged by nonprofit research group OCEARCH on Feb. 28, 2025, about 45 miles offshore of the Florida-Georgia border. The shark is named in honor of Christopher Dold, a key figure in ocean conservation and SeaWorld executive.
The OCEARCH research team fitted Dold with:
-
A satellite tag on his dorsal fin
-
An internal acoustic tag
-
Collected DNA samples for genetic and health data
The “ping” detected off the Jersey Shore occurred when Dold’s dorsal fin breached the water long enough for a satellite to capture its signal—typically requiring about 90 seconds of surface exposure.
🛰️ Why It Matters: Sharks, Science, and the Shore
Dold is part of OCEARCH’s Western North Atlantic White Shark Study, one of the largest efforts to understand the migration, behavior, and health of great white sharks. Over the past 15 years, the organization has tagged nearly 100 great white sharks.
OCEARCH has been tracking Dold since he swam from Florida’s Gulf Coast in early May, steadily migrating north toward the cooler waters of New England and Canada—a seasonal migration pattern typical of Atlantic great whites.
Also on scientists’ radar is Contender, the largest male white shark tagged by OCEARCH, measuring 13 feet, 9 inches and 1,653 pounds, last pinged off North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The title of largest shark still goes to Nukumi, a 17-foot, 3,541-pound female that hasn’t been seen since 2021, when she appeared to be venturing across the Atlantic.
🦈 Public Tracking and Ocean Awareness
You can track Dold and other great white sharks in real time using the OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker app, available online and via mobile. The research helps both scientists and the public gain insight into these critical apex predators that help maintain balance in marine ecosystems.
Whether it’s coincidence or nature’s nod to cinema, Dold’s timely ping on Jaws’ golden anniversary serves as a powerful reminder of the ocean’s mystery and the value of marine conservation.
Tell your story #TheRidgewoodblog , #Indpendentnews, #information, #advertise, #guestpost, #affiliatemarketing,#NorthJersey, #NJ , #News, #localnews, #bergencounty, #sponsoredpost, #SponsoredContent, #contentplacement , #linkplacement, Email: Onlyonesmallvoice@gmail.com
I remember a few years back guys I’m working with in the pollution plant. Told me all there’s no sharks around the Statue of Liberty, yeah right guess what the running from Miami straight up the coast and a swim right around the inlet of Manhattan sometimes they get a little confused and go up river a little That’s happened in the past, and then I worked their way to Long Island. They think they’re professional fisherman. This was the days before cameras on phones, now what , yeahhhh