The great white that wasn't … or was it?

Tuesday, 19 December 2017

A large fish pictured in Port Underwood has got people talking on social media.

Great white hysteria on social media has been reeled in … but only just.

A picture posted on Facebook on Saturday showed a large fish in Marlborough's Port Underwood, which some thought was a great white shark.

The fish was spotted at Port Underwood, close to popular swimming spot Whites Bay.

But after being sent the photograph, Department of Conversation marine scientist Clinton Duffy said he thought it was a hoodwinker sunfish, 'living up to its name'.

But, just when you thought it was safe to get back in the water, the scientist said great whites were common in the Cook Strait area at this time of year.

Great whites from Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands return to New Zealand at this time of year. (File photo)

Whites Bay, next to Rarangi Beach, is popular with tourists and Marlburians at Christmas.

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A dead sunfish washed up at Farewell Spit. (File photo)

DOC studies showed great whites returned to New Zealand's Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands from warmer parts of the world from October onwards.

'Cook Strait is an incredibly productive feeding area and there are probably quite a number of great white sharks in the vicinity of Cook Strait for most of the year, but this time there are more around as the sharks are returning from the tropics.

Looking out over Port Underwood. (File photo)

'We also get a few coming across from eastern Australia, which may or may not be New Zealand sharks,' Duffy said.

Duffy said the chances of a shark attack were very rare as sharks normally distinguished between people and their normal prey such as seals, but people should take precautions nonetheless.

'If you really want to avoid coming into contact with a great white, you need to avoid areas where there are concentrations of food; seals and other fish … they seem to like kingfish.

'And all the other basic precautions apply, don't dive alone, don't swim alone, if you're diving have a buddy in the water with you and somebody on the boat that can lend assistance if there's any trouble,' Duffy said.

Ko Pacey posted the picture on Facebook, saying, 'great white photographed today in the port [Underwood]. Whites bay just round corner'.

The post attracted nearly 300 reactions and 156 comments, with a few saying it was a sunfish.

Pacey said in a comment he just wanted to let people know a great white, or so he thought, was out there.

Whites Bay, next to Rarangi on Marlborough's east coast, is a popular beach destination at Christmas time. People camp there for the whole festive season, playing in the water.

Duffy said no matter where you were on the New Zealand coastline, there would likely be a great white not too far away.

'They're present year-round but more abundant at this time of the year.

'They tend to concentrate on areas that have a lot of food … in the South Island they are concentrated around fur seal colonies, they are a favourite meal for the sharks,' he said.

But he said he was sure the fish in question was a hoodwinker sunfish.

Sunfish grew to 3 or 4 metres but were harmless to humans, Duffy said.

'If that was the dorsal fin of a great white shark you would expect the head to be almost on the other side of the frame.'

'Just behind the fin is where you would see the large pectoral fins, and if you zoom in on the part of the fin that's sticking out of the water you'll see it's got white spots on it, so they're the tell-tale.'