This week, Kaupapa Moana - Seaweek will be celebrated all around Aotearoa New Zealand.
This annual celebration is focused on our relationship with the ocean and all marine life. All kinds of activities along the coastline are organised, encouraging participants to enhance and protect our marine environment.
Most New Zealanders live within a few hours' drive of the sea. Many of us have spent happy hours pottering around shorelines, investigating rockpools, dabbling in shallow water, playing in waves and fishing.
Despite its beauty and attractions, the sea can be treacherous. One of the dangers lurking beneath the waves are the apex predators, sharks. A recent very narrow escape from great white shark, which lunged at a surfer off Matakana Island, is a scary reminder that humans can easily be mistaken for the favourite seal meal of great whites.
Bay of Plenty locals report a noticeable increase in the numbers of these sharks in their area. Bronze whalers, mako and blue sharks are often spotted during summer, but great whites were formerly a rare sight.