A 2.6m white shark seen by a research team off Edwards
Island, last year. Photo by K. Scollay.
Boat divers and kayakers are being advised to avoid areas
around the Titi Islands, off Stewart Island's northeast coast,
during the next fortnight as a multidisciplinary team
researches great white sharks.
The team from the Department of Conservation (Doc), National
Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) and
Auckland University hope to learn more about the sharks.
Research will be conducted from Doc vessel Hananui, from
tomorrow until April 1.
As the team will use berley (a mixture of minced fish and
fish oil) to attract sharks, boat divers and kayakers were
advised to avoid areas around the boat for at least 24 hours
afterwards.
"Fragments of berley may settle to the bottom and continue to
hold a shark or sharks at the site for several hours after
berleying has ceased," Doc shark expert Clinton Duffy said.
The main study sites were around the Bench and Edwards
Islands.
"We will relay the location of the study vessel daily via
local fishermen's radio, to alert any divers or kayakers."
It was the fourth year the team had undertaken
photo-identification and tagging in an attempt to learn more
about the protected species, he said.
The data transmitted from the shark would tell where it had
travelled since tagging took place and, if the tag could be
retrieved, it would provide a wealth of other information,
such as dive times, depths and water temperatures.
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