{"id":299597,"date":"2026-02-24T10:29:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T10:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/299597\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T10:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T10:29:13","slug":"why-shark-sightings-are-rising-even-as-numbers-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/299597\/","title":{"rendered":"Why shark sightings are rising even as numbers decline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shark sightings are on the rise this summer, but its population is dwindling worldwide \u2013 and experts say more needs to be done to save them. <\/p>\n

Shark scientist Dr Riley Elliot said advances in technology had led to more eyes on the water, giving the appearance of a booming population.<\/p>\n

There have been shark sightings reported in Christchurch, Auckland and Whang\u0101rei this summer \u2013 but those observations hide a stark reality.<\/p>\n

“Sadly, scientifically, we only have 30% of the world’s sharks left than we did 50 years ago,” Elliot said. <\/p>\n

He said New Zealand marine reserves weren’t doing enough to help them thrive.<\/p>\n

“Destructive fishing methods, sedimentation, over-harvesting of fish populations \u2013 those issues are not protected within marine reserves, nor are the sharks or animals that travel entire oceans.”<\/p>\n

\"Minister<\/p>\n

Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Shane Jones. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Shane Jones disagreed, adding that “our fishery system is the envy of the world”.<\/p>\n

“We have a [Quality Management System] and 87% of our fisheries are extraordinarily well managed.” <\/p>\n

\"Great<\/p>\n

Great Whites were tagged to learn more about their movement. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Last year, Elliot and his crew spent four weeks tagging 15 great white sharks around Stewart Island<\/a> to learn more about their movements. <\/p>\n

The citizen-funded project focused on one of the last great white aggregation spots, which has been diminishing globally in the face of climate and fishing pressures. <\/p>\n

Some of the tagged sharks migrated north, while others headed to Tonga, New Caledonia, Fiji and eastern Australia.<\/p>\n

With support from iwi and the Department of Conservation, Elliot will be tagging 30 sharks more this summer to learn more about population estimates and tracking of habitat.<\/p>\n

“What we’re learning from them is that they need support because there are only a couple hundred mating adults in this entire population of the South Pacific,” Elliot said.<\/p>\n

\"Shark<\/p>\n

Shark scientist Dr Riley Elliot. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Elliot added that counterintuitively, fewer sharks mean fewer fish.<\/p>\n

“The sharks are doctors and garbageman of the sea and they’ve been doing it for 400 million years.”<\/p>\n

With the depletion of both species, he said, Kiwis should look at shifting priorities to sustainability for our future rather than profitability now.<\/p>\n

“The majority of New Zealanders do not benefit from a few companies profiting. <\/p>\n

“What we want is to go out there with our family, catch a feed, enjoy the ocean, see wildlife, entertain our kids and ensure they’ve got that going into the future.” <\/p>\n

Elliot said there was one simple way to do our part: “When you go to a restaurant, ask them has this been line caught or has it been trawled.”<\/p>\n

For Kiwis who do encounter sharks this summer, marine biologist Clinton Duffy said it was a matter of size. <\/p>\n

“The rule of thumb is anything around your size or bigger \u2013 so 1.8m or longer \u2013 could be potentially dangerous,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The best idea is to get quietly out of the water as quickly as you can.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shark sightings are on the rise this summer, but its population is dwindling worldwide \u2013 and experts say…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[50,1389,111,139,69,147,406],"class_list":["post-299597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animals","tag-conservation","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}