Great white sharks are key to healthy ocean ecosystem, researcher says NBC Boston [Video]

Massachusetts’ most notorious predator is key to a healthy ocean ecosystem, according to a researcher who just wrapped up 20 years of studying great white sharks in South Africa.

“Having top predators like great whites that help keep the balance,” said Neil Hammerschlag, the executive director of the Shark Research Foundation.

The Nova Scotia-based scientist is part of a team documenting what became the decline and eventual disappearance of great white sharks in False Bay, South Africa. The last sighting was in 2018.

“This was where great whites were breaching out of the water,” he said. “It was famous.”

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy shared some incredible footage of a great white shark taken by an underwater camera.Follow NBC10 Boston:https://instagram.com/nbc10bostonhttps://tiktok.com/@nbc10bostonhttps://facebook.com/NBC10Bostonhttps://twitter.com/NBC10Boston

Those waters have now taken over by seals and sevengill sharks, disrupting the food chain.

“As a result, we then saw the things that the …