Baby shark’s long-term stay in Northland amazes scientist Riley Elliott

SWAJ, a 1.4m great white shark, has been chilling in Doubtless Bay for more than a month. Photo / Great White App

A homegrown app that shows the locations of great white sharks in real time has revealed a long-term visitor to the east coast of the Far North.

The Great White App showed a 1.4m baby great white less than a year old nestled in the southern corner of Doubtless Bay for the last month.

The shark, named SWAJ - Jaws backwards - as she is nothing like the monster depicted in the 1975 summer blockbuster, was lauded by shark scientist Dr Riley Elliott as the “cutest” and “smallest” shark he’s seen.

Elliott’s satellite tagging and tracking allowed him to trace SWAJ’s journey from Tauranga Harbour to the Mangōnui coastline. The newborn was tagged on February 8 outside Matakana Island.

“I have been fascinated with the little shark’s movements as she’s stayed in the bay for almost a month or more,” he said. “She hasn’t moved in weeks.”

At one point, SWAJ’s contentment over her swim spot caused the scientist to check with his data experts that her tags were still in place.

“They confirmed it is in fact the shark and it’s just staying there.”

What amazed Elliott was that the newborn’s travels almost mirrored the migration of a much older great white, Mananui. Both sharks had made their way to Doubtless Bay.

But 6-year-old Mananui, measuring 3.2m long, had adventured on an 1130km coastal trip from Bay of Plenty, around North Cape, to 90 Mile Beach and back.

SWAJ's journey traced on The Great White app. Photo / Supplied

Elliott found it incredible as sharks can migrate entire oceans and therefore can accurately navigate, so he wondered if there were key features or “road signs” both sharks used.

It’s an impressive feat for SWAJ given newborn great whites immediately separate from their mother so receive no parental guidance, he said.

Elliott also pointed out how newborn great whites should reside in nursery ground areas, meaning in theory SWAJ would have stayed close to Tauranga Harbour but had instead ventured far away.

He thought murky waters caused by Cyclone Gabrielle may have forced her out as hunting could have been difficult, or the nursery range of a great white shark could be larger than theorised.

Satellite images that showed water clarity gave the appearance the sharks had avoided dirty coastal water by travelling on the edge of oceanic water, Elliott said.

While Mananui ventured to Northland’s tip where a big part of their diet - school sharks - could be found, SWAJ holed up in Doubtless Bay.

But why?

Well, Elliott needed the help of locals to figure that out. He wanted to learn about any seasonal aggregation of prey that may be the reason SWAJ is happy to stay put.

“Are there heaps of kahawai there?” he mused.

Or maybe a menu of octopus, crabs and small fish were keeping her in Doubtless Bay.

“The animals go where the food is,” Elliott said.

Far North locals in the know about The Great White App were buzzing to learn about the guest. Some had taken to social media to excitedly share the news.

Elliott said the response showed the publicly funded project was “well followed and accepted by the public for all the right reasons”.

“SWAJ couldn’t be a better shark for that as her name is all about reversing the Jaws [shark horror movie] mentality. They are no real threat to people.”

Instead, humans posed one of the greatest threats to great whites, Elliott said.

“A recent Niwa fishery report showed that 53 great whites had been killed over the past decade as bycatch in commercial set nets and gill nets.”

Others, Elliott said, had washed up dead after becoming entangled in recreational set nets and longlines.

He urged people, especially the older generation who grew up under the Jaws illusion, to take greater care in and around the country’s coasts.

“There are still the 60- to 70-year-old men who still think a great shark is a dead shark,” Elliott said.

“That’s why it’s so important at these critical hotspots like Doubtless Bay to reduce the risk by not leaving set nets unobserved.”

If you do catch a shark, Elliott’s advice was to cut the line as close to the hook as possible and let the shark go.

“Otherwise it could become distressed to the point of death.”

Elliott received a Department of Conservation permit in June last year to track and satellite-tag 20 great whites, allowing people to see where the animals are travelling live on an app.

The project is driven by funding and support from the public and is hosted by the Sustainable Ocean Society - a non-profit established by Elliot and a group of his friends.

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