Basking sharks- now functionally extinct from NZ's inshore waters ?

This article is in progress. It appears that basking sharks are hardly ever sighted in our inshore waters. Quite possibly causalities of fishing by-catch and also the high market value of their fins. A sad loss of a once common sight in our coastal waters up until 1995. Recent aerial surveys by the Department of Conservation and nation wide requests for information have failed to find any. In the International year of Biodiversity we have to be aware of such issues.