Cruising up and down the New Zealand coastline, Dr Riley Elliott aboard his Yamaha powered Extreme 745 Game King has discovered a new nursery ground for Great White Sharks. The Kiwi shark scientist – a Yamaha ambassador is undertaking a novel scientific project to tag and track the habitat use of these endangered and protected species. A nursery ground is something not only incredibly rare to discover, but also critical to monitor for species conservation.
From 2022-2023 Dr Elliott tagged and tracked four young of the year and juvenile Great white sharks using his Extreme 745 Game King, powered by a Yamaha 250HP V6 outboard engine. Elliott and his team filmed a Discovery Channel Shark Week documentary, allowing hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide to partake in the journey.
Using satellite tags sponsored by the NZ public, and a live streaming App called the Great White App, the entire world was able to follow the movements of sharks tagged. The harbour nursery area was utilised intensely until the unprecedented floods of 2023, which not only caused civil emergency, but also ended up displacing the tagged sharks. They moved north to more sheltered harbours and went as far as NZ’s west coast.
The tags only last as long as they can stay attached to the shark, with a dart and tether. Three to eight months of tracking was accomplished providing novel insight to the next generation of Great white sharks that call NZ home.
Dr Elliott has moved his tagging effort with the 16 remaining sponsored tags, to one of the world’s largest Great white aggregation sites on earth – just north of Stewart Island NZ – where the ‘mums and dads’ of juveniles seasonally congregate for food, courtship and possible mating.
There are only five other aggregation sites on earth, where Great Whites aggregate. Almost all have come under novel environmental pressures in recent time, some entirely disappearing causing a huge trophic cascade through the food chain – ecosystem balance created over millions of years. The Stewart Island population seems healthy at present but that made this project more necessary than ever, and it was driven since day one through support from Yamaha Marine NZ.
Yamaha’s support of Dr Elliott and his leading research is an important part of its Yamaha Rightwaters initiative. Which builds on Yamaha’s long-standing dedication to preserving the natural resources we have today – so that its customers can continue to enjoy them tomorrow. The program focusses on supporting and promoting the long-term sustainability and conservation of our waterways and oceans. Originally developed by Yamaha USA, Yamaha is excited to be bringing this environmental program to New Zealand shores, with the aim of supporting local marine habitat protection.
“Our goal is to support marine focused environmental programs that contribute in a meaningful way to the protection and sustainability of our waterways,” says Pete Dick, Group Marketing Manager for Yamaha New Zealand. “We aim to achieve this by supporting local partnerships, through both in-kind and direct financial support, that are focused on waste mitigation and collection, education, scientific monitoring, and community and government engagement.”
“Partnering with Dr Elliott and his Great White Shark research has been a fascinating project to be involved with. We obviously all see the beautiful coastlines around New Zealand, but to now have a better understanding about what’s beneath the water and this unique species has been insightful.” Dr Riley says he is looking forward to the next phase of the research project this coming summer. “We’ll be gearing up to hit the water again this summer and to track more of these incredible creatures,” said Dr Elliott.
“Without the support of Yamaha, myself and the research team would not be on the water, with access to these incredible animals. Where populations in places like South Africa have disappeared, creating massive adverse ecosystem effects, the Great White Project NZ couldn’t have come at a better time to ensure the amazing marine ecosystem of NZ is maintained.” Dr Riley Elliott is a renowned shark expert, appearing in numerous seasons of Discovery Channel’s ‘Shark Week’, this year starring in the show “The Great White Sex Battle”. Shark Week kicks off in North America July 20th, and will appear on screens in NZ later in the year.
