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A curious great white shark has been captured eyeballing a camera set up to record footage of fish species in Fiordland and snapping at a bait pot.

Scientists working on the project were amazed by the rare on-camera appearance, as part of a survey in Tamatea Dusky Sound last month.

Sea Through Science researcher Adam Smith was the first to spot the shark while working on the Department of Conservation (DOC) contract.

“While reviewing the videos, I saw a mature male white pointer shark turn up to the [camera] - it was quite a shock,” he said.

“We had been laughing about how cool it would be to see something like that. It’s very rare to get such great footage.”

The great white mouthed the bait pot a couple of times before slowly swimming away.

A great white shark was filmed eyeballing a camera set to record fish species in Fiordland. Photo / Department of Conservation - Sea Through Science

The team collected more than 200 hours of footage from two GoPro cameras that recorded many other shark species, as well as hāpuku, blue cod and octopus.

Smith said great white sharks were vulnerable to overfishing and protected under the Wildlife and Fisheries Acts.

“It’s great to see these majestic creatures in their natural environment and to see how curious they are,” he said.

“We’ve only seen a white shark once before during our surveys, at the Kermadec Islands, the other end of New Zealand.”

DOC senior ranger Richard Kinsey said the survey allowed researchers to compare fish inside and outside of two of Fiordland’s 10 marine reserves and the health of the recreational fishery.

“This information will also be helpful for assessing whether Fiordland’s new fishing regulations benefit fish stocks in the coming years.”

DOC encouraged the public to report details of any sightings, captures or strandings of great white sharks to 0800 DOC HOT.