About 66 types of sharks are found in New Zealand waters ranging in size from the tiny pygmy shark which grows up to 27 cm long to the 12-metre long whale shark.
Sharks! The very name sends tremors down some spines – unjustly so as these fascinating creatures and their close relatives skates and rays are for the most part quite harmless. New Zealand has its own distinctive shark and ray fauna, with species occupying habitats ranging from the shores, to the open ocean, to the depths of the continental slope.