Paul Gorman of The Press reports that surveys are to be undertaken to determine how many basking sharks are present in Canterbury’s waters.
The sharks are which are the second largest fish in the world, and have been labelled a ‘vulnerable’ species.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“As well as the aerial surveys, DOC is asking beach-goers to keep their eyes peeled.
“DOC marine scientist Clinton Duffy said the number of basking sharks around New Zealand was unknown but was likely to be in the low thousands, given several hundred had been caught accidentally by deep-water trawlers in the past decade.”