Photo: SuppliedWatching a great white shark stalk a crew member off the coast of Stewart Island during filming for a documentary was among the most scary incidents marine film-maker Clarke Gayford witnessed. The global lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has quietened the oceans and may be luring some of New Zealand's biggest great whites out of hiding. There are two separate populations that meet up in Stewart Island "for a good time". One in five whale calves don't survive, probably providing two tonnes of protein at a time for the great whites. Great whites have evolved over the years and are "super long-lived being apex predators" which is why they are so vulnerable, he says.

Source: Otago Daily Times November 29, 2020 02:15 UTC