One of Tauranga’s strangest mysteries has finally been solved after Daisy the great white shark’s tracker was found in Gate Pā today, much to the relief of the scientist who offered a $100 reward for its return.
Shark scientist Dr Riley Elliott tagged Daisy in Bowentown Harbour in December and has been tracking the 2.75m female’s movements via satellite since.
He said her tag came off near Matakana Island, where the blip from the tag moved across the water to Pāpāmoa Beach, then overland, settling in Gate Pā.
In a post to Facebook today, Elliot confirmed the tracker had been found by a man named Dave and his dog Thor who were taking a stroll on the beach. They picked the intriguing object up and took it home, quickly forgetting about the device because of hospital appointments over the next few days.
“When they got home, they turned on their phones and holy cow, saw the messages everywhere on social media, the news, the paper etc etc thanks to all of you!” Elliot shared in the post.
“The following day I visited them, [they] were huge shark fans, both grew up in the Jaws era, but both however love what sharks stand for and do in the oceans, and they were so stoked to have brought Daisy’s tag back to the Great White Project.”
Elliot confirmed his next step was to find Daisy and continue to study her and other great whites.
Over the past week, Elliot made several pleas on social media, posting maps of the 250-metre radius of where the tracker could be, based on its latest ping and the accuracy of the signal and offering a $100 reward.
Daisy quickly became a legend thanks to the viral social media posts, with many locals stepping out to help find the tracker and share the word.
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