Chewing Gum 17 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Sharks are bit of a worry but I guess we have to look at the stats. I don't think a swimmer has ever been attacked in NZ North Island although there was a spearfisherman fatality in Te Kaha a long time ago. Link to post Share on other sites
John B 106 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 You have to distinguish. I don't think bronze whalers are too much of a problem but a mako nearby would make me concerned.. you just never know if they're having a bad day or not. We're just lucky we don't have bull and tiger sharks here( or not common if they are), I don't like what I read about those bastards. Reminds me , we had a big mako go aerial in bowling alley bay a couple of years ago, the consensus was 3 M in the end after it crossed under the bow of an anchored boat. Anyway , glass calm evening, kids had just got out the water and we sat down in the cockpit. Giant splash in front of the boat and I stood up trying to figure out what it was. Just in time to see this 3 m long mako come out entirely , about a metre and half out, roll over and land like a whale breaching. There were a few big eyes after that. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Probably just an Eel. It may have thought RB's finger was a teenage eel and got a bit too horny on it Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 How about this for a marko monster....... caught up in the far north and theres no way I would ever want to come face to face with something like this. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Rocket Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Chewing Gum the last shark fatality (that I know about) was a woman who got bitten by a mako at the river mouth at Oakura (Taranaki) - late 60s I believe - a mate of mine saw it happen. Doesn't stop me swimming there - though that 6.5m great white they call the Taranaki Terror sure has me looking over my shoulder. It has been known to push past the surfers to gobble a seal and then push past them on the way back out.... Hasn't been seen for a few years - it put in a guest performance at the Laser nationals at NP a few years ago... (on the windy day when I had a swim at the bottom mark right where she was viewing the racing from). That is one big fish... No recreational diver has been eaten yet - just a few of those crazy free divers that have flapping fish on the end of bits of string in open water have been bitten - they wonder why the sharks show up! Link to post Share on other sites
Chewing Gum 17 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Last fatal was Te Kaha in 1976 I didn't know about the couple earlier ones see link (hover over fins) http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/sharks-and-rays/6/1 Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Rocket Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Te Kaha was a skindiver from memory The Slipper Is one was a guy shooting fish - he made it to shore (he was camping) and baited a bloody big hook on a drum - the drum and everything was gone in the morning. A couple of years ago a crayfisherman at Slipper was visited by a Great White that was biting his commercial pots as he pulled them - crushed them completely which is pretty impressive. He chucked it some crays which it gobbled up. Probably the same fish that put in a guest appearance at the Mercs later that Summer. I am interested cos I used to holiday at Slipper - my kids learned to dive there etc. The year of that Great White every time you went in the water all the little fish came and swam beside you - was somewhat disconcerting. I spent most dives in the kelp with my head up waiting for that music to start up. There was definitely a big bugger there somewhere. There are always Bronzies in South Bay sunning themselves off the end of the wharf - you see them if you fly in. To the best of my knowledge they don't eat people but they sure look like real sharks under water! Sharks live in the sea but as above they ain't the biggest risk - my experience is you have to try quite hard to see one in NZ visibility. I have been visited by a big hammerhead at the Mercs once (and I mean big) but I didn't see it, the guy up top did - said it sat over me and watched. I thought it was a cloud... Have seen bronzies and white and black tipped reef sharks in the Islands - but that is cos the vis is so good and the locals feed them. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I sometimes go for a fly at the crack of dawn, the sun coming up over the Gulf is just magnificent. On the super still days there are sharks to be seen everywhere, hordes of the buggers..... yet no one gets eaten. Dived at the Knights and again sharks are commonly seen, some BIG.... yet no one has been eaten. I've hand feed sharks in Bora Bora ..... and a few locals have been eaten..... bad example Taking the Famdamnly to Niue in a few weeks and they are all getting scuba lessons while there. I wonder if any will get eaten?? Hope knot, we have non-refundable air tickets. Don't block their path, don't try and sneak up behind one, don't have bleeding fish hanging off your weight belt, don't annoy them and they won't annoy you. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Rocket Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Agree completely - I mean they do live in the sea - where are they supposed to spend their holidays.... My sister has been chased out of the water by tiger sharks in the Solomans and been buzzed by those nasty bull sharks in a lagoon - found out she was in there the day after the shark worshippers had been feeding them pigs guts - oops. Link to post Share on other sites
Atom Ant 0 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Have done shark feeding dives in Tahiti - a highlight of my trips there. Very cool and they're only reef sharks but a few were longer than me. Hey Squid, "... fins to the left, fins to the right, and you're the only bait in town..." Not the same situation though - is it? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Not quite Most sharks I've had aswim with was Isla del Coco off the coast of Coast Rica, it's kind of a breeding ground for hammerheads, literally pushing them out of the way to get at the lobster. Believe it is a National park now Link to post Share on other sites
Atom Ant 0 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Fins - Landsharks Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 That'd be a pitbull sprat, gangs of em hanging round the ends of marinas and other unsavory places........wear dirty dogs and slouch/ swagger as they swim......often tattooed Link to post Share on other sites
Grinna 2 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I sometimes go for a fly at the crack of dawn How does Dawn feel about all this then??? And more importantly, where is Wheels when all this is taking place??? And I suppose your Wa is pleased to get rid of you for 10 minutes or so?? Reminds me of a quote from the movie 50 First Dates: "Sharks are like dogs, they only bite if you play with their private parts." Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Rocket Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10774581 And so it begins Shock horror a shark was in the water AND it was 2 whole meters long. I despair for journalism in this country. I would be more surprised if there wasn't a shark there. And I particularly love the bit about clearing the area - cos sharks can't swim far right? If you travel from Ak to the Coramandel you will normally see multiple sharks mostly up around the 3 metre mark - its where they live people in the freaking ocean!!! Guarantee there is at least 10 decent sized bronze whalers sitting off Takapuna Beach as we speak - eyeing up a fat mullet or kahawai dinner... Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 mabey the media should look at this company. they would realise that people fish for sharks of such beaches........and then put them back. Oh no.....shark in the water.....we had better clear the beach. http://www.thefspot.co.nz/cs/Services.asp?type=25 Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Rocket Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Yeah - I loved the catch and release off Omaha Beach - bet that had the Remuera mums horrified. Sharks need to fear us not the other way around. (Particularly when big bloody mad Makos hit my game lures) Grrrrrr Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I would be more concerned about Bluebottles than sharks. Link to post Share on other sites
Nate 2 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 As we were dropping sails this afternoon INSIDE Stanley Pt before heading into Bayswater Marina, a (I think) bronze whaler shark jumped clear of the water about 50m in front of our bow. I estimate it to have been around 1.5-1.8m long, and it got nearly a metre clear of the water. Made a huge splash on re-entry. I assume it was chasing rays. I kid you not! Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 After chatting to a newish local I believe you Nate. Apparently he only fishes for sharks and has caught a lot this year, including one of a size that wouldn't fit in his 18ft tinny and used the word Mako a couple of times. I'm knot sure I should say where he does all this though as he only does catch and release so they are still out there. Knot to mention he does chum up large at the time so draws them in from gawd knows where. Do many here swim at Takapuna beach?? No I'm knot kidding. Link to post Share on other sites
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