Waihī Beach tragedy
Woman fatally mauled by shark
Awoman has died after being mauled by a shark at Waihı¯ Beach yesterday. The woman was dragged from the water alive and paramedics administered CPR on the beach but she could not be saved.
Emergency services were called to the beach about 5.10pm after reports of a woman being injured in the water, police said. Her death will be referred to the coroner.
Shark scientist Riley Elliott said it’s hard to speculate what species of shark attacked the woman without knowing all the facts.
However, there has been evidence of juvenile and immature great whites in the area as of last summer.
Bronze whalers were more common in the area, Elliott said.
“It’s very uncommon to have shark attacks in New Zealand — in the world in general — especially fatal ones,” he said.
“Shark attacks are incredibly rare and if you see one, remain calm, alert people around you, and calmly vacate the water.”
St John initially sent two ambulances, a first response unit and a helicopter to Waihı¯ Beach, a spokeswoman told the Herald.
The TECT Rescue Helicopter was called in about 5.15pm, said a spokesperson for the Philips Search and Rescue Trust, the charity which runs the helicopter.
The helicopter landed but was stood down at the scene because the patient had died.
Western Bay of Plenty mayor Garry Webber said the death was an “awful situation”.
Waihı¯ Beach is a holiday destination for Kiwis, Webber said, with its population swelling at this time of year from about 4000 people to about 20,000.
Webber has lived in the Bay of Plenty area permanently since 1998 and couldn’t remember a shark attack in the region.
“When these things happen your thoughts immediately go to the family,” the mayor said.
Western Bay of Plenty KatikatiWaihi Beach ward councillor Anne Henry said the incident was an “absolute tragedy”.
Henry said it was believed the attack happened at the Bowentown end of the beach.
“Most of the locals seem to know and they heard all of the commotion with all the services going down there [to the beach].”
Allan Mundy, the national search and rescue manager for Surf Lifesaving New Zealand, said: “We know these animals are ever-present in our environment.
“What we ask people to do is always be vigilant, respect the animals, it’s their home not ours.”
Mundy said Surf Lifesaving didn’t have the power to close the beach and that any decision would be made by either the regional or city council.
In December, Clinton Duffy from the Department of Conservation said that according to satellite imagery the sea surface temperatures off northern New Zealand were warmer this summer as a result of a 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 more quickly.
In February 2013, father-of-one Adam Strange was killed after he was attacked by a shark off Muriwai Beach. The 46-year-old had been out swimming when he was attacked.
In July 2019, a 2m-long shark washed up dead at Waihı¯ Beach.
And 13 months ago a huge great white shark was spotted by people on a boat near Waihı¯ Beach. It was estimated the shark was about 3.5m long.
Waihı¯ Beach was also closed down in January 2014 after a small shark was spotted near the shoreline.
Up to 2014, there had been 12 reported fatal shark attacks in New Zealand.
That includes one in 1966 in Auckland’s Manukau Harbour, plus attacks at Te Kaha (1976), Napier (1896), Oakura (1966), Wellington (1852), Kumara (1896), Moeraki (1907 and 1967), St Clair (1964 and 1967) and Aramoana (1968).
Last February a 60-year-old man had a lucky escape while out surfing at Pauanui Beach, Coromandel.
The man was bitten on the arm before the shark latched on to his surfboard. “So I actually shouted at it ‘f*** off!’ and went to punch it in the eye and missed,” he told the Herald.