A sinister, black-clad figure started lurking at beaches and riversides last summer and he is back again this year.
The Swim Reaper - created by advertising agency FCB, is the skull face of the combined ACC and Water Safety New Zealand campaign to target the at-risk demographic of young men aged 15 to 30.
"This group make up a disproportionate amount of all preventable drownings, around a third of the total fatal incidents annually despite being only 14 per cent of the population," said Water Safety NZ chief executive Jonty Mills.
"Lives would be saved if young males simply made smarter decisions around water.
"We needed to find a way to connect with this audience in a genuine way so they were open to receiving water safety messages."