‘Massive' shark spotted at Pukehina
Drone captures shark swimming close to shore
Areal estate photographer got more than he bargained for when his drone spotted a “really big” shark near the shores of Pukehina Beach in the Bay of Plenty.
Ruan Visser from Boundless Vision was photographing a Pukehina property on Wednesday last week about 9am when his drone spotted something big loitering behind the waves.
He flew his drone out further to find a “massive” shark swimming sideways across the shore, his partner and business co-owner, Sarieta, told the Bay of Plenty Times.
She said he had been in “complete shock” and continued filming the shark on its journey.
“It’s never happened before.”
Her husband had shown a number of people the footage. They were all amazed by the size of the shark, she said.
But this shark was not the first to be spotted in local waters as the weather warms up.
The previous week Waihi’s Holly Manukonga hooked a baby great white shark while out fishing with her boyfriend, Josh Lonergan, at Bowentown’s Cave Bay. “I just did the usual, threw some bait out and we hooked a white,” Lonergan said.
He estimated the shark was 70 to 80kg.”
“She’s allergic to fish so it’s pretty funny — she had never caught a fish before. She was pretty sore after reeling it in.”
After reeling in the baby great white they unhooked it and released it back into the ocean.
Clinton Duffy, from the Department of Conservation, said according to satellite imagery the sea surface temperatures off northern New Zealand was warmer this year as a result of La Nina weather phenomenon.
“However, it is common for sharks, particularly adult females, to move into productive shallow coastal waters at this time of the year anyway.”
He said this was a result of the shallows receiving more light and warming quicker and in spring biological production kicked off earlier than in deep offshore waters.
“Several species of sharks move inshore to give birth in these shallow productive areas so their pups have the best chance of survival.
“Other species move inshore at the same time to feed on abundant fishes,” he said.
“This is an annual phenomenon. The timing of the inshore-offshore movements of sharks is probably influenced by both temperature and light levels.