Shark! Shark!

Shark scare for swimmer at Mt Maunganui
10:46AM Friday February 23, 2007

A 4m-long shark swimming offshore in Mount Maunganui's Shark Alley was spotted yesterday for the third time this month.

A member of the public called police after seeing the shark about 12.15pm.
But Mount police found no sign of the shark when they checked offshore from the Main Beach, near Moturiki Island.

Senior Sergeant Tania Kura said there was little officers could do so the Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service was contacted. Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service administrator Shelley Kerr said it was the third report lifeguards had received about a 4m to 4.5m shark swimming in the area in the past month.
"It sounds like the same one."

However, none of the sharks has been seen by lifeguards.

More here .

We do get a fair few sharks over here but they its very rare that they attack. Last year in New Plymouth a couple of teenagers paddled over on their surf boards to watch a seal skimming the waves. The next thing you know a huge fin appears behind them then goes under their boards and launches at the seal ! I have a friend who runs a surf shop in Mount Maunganui and he reckons he will regularly tap a small shark on the nose as he's paddling out on his board. He's not bothered in the slightest and as he say's statistically you have more chance of being struck by lightning than attacked by a shark.

Paul G

They caught a 220lb Mako the other week off the coast in Dunedin.

The day before we went diving! ::)

Mmmm, shark. Good eating.

[MotherBear]

Sharks sighted at North Island beaches
2:30PM Sunday January 06, 2008


A great white shark terrorised Taranaki beaches two summers ago.

Hot days are not only drawing crowds of holiday makers to the beach this summer -- sharks are also making an appearance.

Sharks have been spotted in three areas of the North Island this summer.

In North Taranaki Waitara fishermen Andrew Sharman, Wilson Montgomery and David Collingwood said they saw a massive shark about 9am Friday, about 3km off Motunui.

The shark was at least 5m long and its grey dorsal fin was sticking more than half a metre out of the water, the men told the Taranaki Daily News.

During the summer of 2006 a 6m great white, dubbed the "Taranaki Terror", forced the closure of Oakura Beach when it was seen 300m offshore.

More here

[kokopeli]

A lady surfer reckons her board was chomped by a shark at Kaikoura recently. Can't say I've ever seen any at Sumner, but you never know.............

Shark tries twice to attack surfer - News - Dominion Post

[Jodie]

Hm.... maybe we'll stick to the lakes for skiing then... those trout don't bite as hard as those sharkie fellas :)

[MotherBear]

Shark clears water on first summer weekend
1:18PM Monday Dec 01, 2008
John Cousins

A close encounter with a big shark added an edge of excitement to this summer's first beach weekend when bathers were sent scurrying from the surf on three occasions at Papamoa Beach yesterday.

The 2.4m thresher shark swam so close to shore chasing fish that at one stage it was clearly visible as it sliced through the shallows.

Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club's acting patrol captain Ross Merrett said the shark was seen swimming around the back of the flagged area at 1pm and when it did not move away, swimmers were told through loud speakers to leave the water.

Swimming conditions were not exactly pleasant with large numbers of jellyfish floating about. When 10-year-old Morgan Lyall heard the alert he thought it was because of a big poisonous jellyfish.

"If we knew it was a shark, we probably would have sprinted out."

The appearance of the non-aggressive shark coincided with the hottest part of the day and the beach was packed with people.

Guards waded into the shallows to underline the warning. Senior guard Ashleigh Cleverley said when bathers who asked were told what the trouble was, their walk turned into a rush.

An inflatable rescue boat was used to scare fish off to encourage the thresher away. The beach reopened 10 minutes later once the shark had swum off.

Half an hour later it was back, coming right into the shallows to chase fish and herd them into edible quantities by swimming in circles and using its tail to thrash the water. When it returned a third time 30 minutes later, Ashleigh said some swimmers started to dawdle and even sit around rather than get out.

Mr Merrett said people became curious and some bathers waded back into the surf to waist depth get a closer look.

Guards told them to back off because a blow from a thresher's tail was extremely dangerous and sometimes fatal.

Mr Merrett said it was not uncommon to see thresher sharks in the area in front of the clubhouse, with half a dozen sightings during the patrol season.

At least two sharks were feeding in the shallows along Tauranga's coastline yesterday because the second warning at Papamoa Beach coincided with bathers at Harrison's Cut sighting another thresher.

Morgan and his brother Damon and friend Ayson Collins took it all in their stride.

Ayson said they were not really worried by the drama.

"We were having a fun time - we forgot all about it."

- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES

From here.

And a previous thread about sharks in NZ for those who may be interested.

[MonkeyControl]

A Friend of my GirlFriend had a close encounter with a shark whilst fishing by Mount Maunganui on Saturday. Apparently it was 'this big!!!', (holds out arms, well, maybe one and a half arms) which approached and stole her bait and made off, probably grinning.
I don't know what type of shark it was, I only got the story third-hard, but I'm pretty sure enough fish for tea was caught before the incident.