Scrutiny on great white sharks

A project has been launched to research great white sharks in the Tauranga Harbour and wider Bay of Plenty in the summer. There has been a notable increase in the frequency of interactions between humans and great whites in the area during the past few years, including the death of 19-year-old Kaelah Marlow at Bowentown in 2021. The new research will be a collaboration between local iwi, marine ecologists, fisheries scientists and shark experts, headed by University of Waikato marine ecologist Phil Ross. The research will aim to understand the observed changes in white shark abundance and behaviour and inform any future white shark management in the Bay of Plenty.