Kiwis will head to the beaches in droves this summer but so will great white sharks, and the Bay of Plenty is expected to have particularly high numbers of the apex predator.
While they have a fearsome reputation, there are only an estimated 1500 to 3000 Great Whites worldwide, making them quite rare in most parts of the world.
However, shark expert Dr Riley Elliott says there are already high numbers of great whites in the Bay of Plenty, and he expects the numbers to increase over the course of summer.
"In the week I've been out here on the harbour I've seen ten juvenile great white sharks, which is incredibly novel in the scientific world," he said, speaking to Rebecca Wright on Newshub Live at 8 on Wednesday.
"I've even seen brand new baby ones, like a metre long which makes this place incredibly novel in a global sense. There are only a handful of places where they drop their pups. So those places are incredibly novel and important."
Elliott emphasised that "it's important that if it's going to be the summer of the sharks it's in a positive manner."
Armed with knowledge, Elliott says "we can make educated decisions about where we play."
Kiwis often discount the danger the ocean can pose, and Elliott thinks "if we were going to the African savannahs to play tennis around the lions and zebras we'd probably think a little more about it".
While Kiwis should be aware that these are "rare, apex, mega-predators," the threat they pose can be managed, and "they are actually incredibly vulnerable".
"Luckily the Jaws generation of a good shark is a dead shark has kind of been washed out through education," Elliott said
"We're trying to continue that by learning more about their movements and where their areas are.
With this information "we can better learn where we can then recreate".
Elliott is currently in the Coromandel tagging great whites and then putting their movement information onto a great white app and the Sustainable Ocean Society website.
The tracking app is set to launch soon, and if you are interested in supporting the tracking of these sharks, which is not cheap at $3200 per tag, you can donate on the website.
Elliott hopes that New Zealanders will use this information to "empower themselves with information about what is a very novel population of great white sharks in this area of Tauranga harbour."
"Science is a slow cog," says Elliott. "My recipe has always been to speed it up by engaging the public. Citizen science is super powerful."
Another way to help if you see a shark is to take a photo and share it with the page Sharkwatchnz on Facebook.
Elliott also shared a great tip about how to best avoid sharks over the summer months.
"Don't overlap with where sharks are feeding, and that's generally around fishing activity. And equally, don't go fishing where people are swimming."
Additionally, he recommended Kiwis "swim between the flags, wear a lifejacket, get a Coastguard membership, and check the weather report as well."
Watch the full interview for more.
