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This doesn’t happen very often, but a man’s been killed by a shark at Auckland’s Muriwai Beach. It’s reported a police officer started shooting at the shark, with as many as 20 shots fired, killing it.
Emergency staff confirmed the person’s body had been pulled from the water following the early afternoon attack. The shark had been killed but was still floating in the ocean.
Wellington student, Stef McCallum, 18, said they were first aware something was wrong when a man ran across to the surf club to get help.
A woman told us a man had just been killed by a shark, she said.
“She said there was a big pool of blood in the water.”Mr McCallum said they saw a police officer go out in a surf boat and shoot the shark.
“He fired about 20 shots.”
About 200 people were on the beach and people quickly ran.
“Everybody was evacuated from the water. Word of mouth, ‘shark’, and everybody left the water.”
TV3 reported from the beach that as many as three sharks may have been involved.
A witness told the TV station he spotted the lone swimmer while he was out fishing at the beach, shortly before 2pm.
The distressed man signaled for help when he was attacked, before he was pulled underwater.
What a way to go.
There have been 14 known fatal shark attacks in New Zealand, since records began about 1837, according to Department of Conservation shark expert, Clinton Duffy.
“In the last 20 years we have been averaging two shark incidents, where the shark actually bites someone, a year. Those are generally on swimmers and generally result in fairly superficial flesh wounds,” Duffy said.
The last death was in 2006, when a kayaker was mauled by a great white in the Coromandel – whether he drowned before the shark found him is still disputed. Before that the last death was in 1976.
UPDATE
Source: SMH
