Baby great white shark makes ‘huge migration’ from Far North to Port Waikato

Swaj the baby great white shark has left the safety of her northern 'nursery'.

A baby great white shark that’s being tracked by an app hanging out off the Far North coastline has made a “huge migration” most likely in search of food.

After four months of using Doubtless Bay as a “nursery area”, the shark named Swaj - Jaws backwards - has migrated hundreds of kilometres away to Port Waikato on the west coast.

Shark scientist Riley Elliott said the journey was “incredible”.

“Incredible to see not only the clear nursery areas utilised like Doubtless Bay, this baby great white... has now popped up on the west coast.

“These sharks move based on water temperature, the other thing is food.

“They’ll be following food sources that proliferate at certain times of the year.”

Swaj, a 1.4m baby great white less than a year old, is being tracked by the homegrown Great White App, which shows the locations of great white sharks in real-time.

Elliott said it wasn’t yet clear what prompted Swaj to leave the Far North, but she had obviously enjoyed the relative safety of the area in the southern corner of the bay.

“It’s kind of like going to kindergarten, that’s where you send your human kids to be safe and learn.

“For a shark, it’s kind of the same but it’s mainly about food and safety and not being vulnerable to big predators.”

The newborn was tagged on February 8 outside Matakana Island.

Elliott’s satellite tagging and tracking allowed him to trace Swaj’s original journey from Tauranga Harbour to the Mangōnui coastline.

In March, the Northern Advocate reported on the long-term visitor to the Far North.

That she was in one area for so long was “almost an anomaly”, Elliott said.

“I talked to a lot of locals up there, and they said at the time there were still heaps of kahawai schools in the area, a lot of stingrays, a lot of food for juvenile great whites, so [her stay] could be indicative of that. To be there that long shows the novel nature of what we understand of these animals.”

Another shark Elliott is tracking, 6-year-old Mananui, who measures 3.2m long, had adventured on an 1130km coastal trip from Bay of Plenty, around North Cape, to 90 Mile Beach and back.

“The way these animals move is based on hundreds of millions of years of instinct.

“The whole point of the project is to learn about the movements of the animals.”

Elliott asked anyone who spots what could be a great white to snap a photo if possible and to contact him either on Facebook at Riley Elliott - Shark Scientist or by emailing nzsharkman@gmail.com.