Shark attack at Baylys Beach
Whanga¯rei man bitten several times
Aman was flown to Whanga¯rei Hospital last night after a shark attack at Baylys Beach. The man, in his 20s, from Whanga¯rei, suffered moderate injuries in the incident, which happened about 6pm.
Shark expert Clinton Duffy said the shark involved was definitely a great white, and probably a “reasonably sized” one.
Police cleared the water and remained at the scene until about 7.40pm.
“[The surfer] paddled himself to shore following the attack,” a police spokesman said.
“A man helped him after the attack by giving him a ride up the beach in his ute.”
The man was collected by the rescue helicopter outside a shop on Seaview Rd.
Duffy said a shark tooth embedded in the surfboard was from the lower jaw of a great white and the bite pattern also shows it . . . it’s unmistakable.”
He would need to have a measurement of the tooth to know for sure the shark’s size and if it was a juvenile or an adult.
“It’s hard to say, but it looks like a reasonably-sized fish.”
Even a juvenile great white was big — females matured at 4.5m to 5.2m and about 1800kg and males at 3.6m and 800kg.
Dargaville Volunteer Fire Brigade deputy chief Michael Ross said the victim was bitten a number of times but was “walking and talking”.
“It’s got him in the hand, the elbow, a little bit on his mouth.
“He was definitely in pain and there was a bit of blood.”
“I’ve lived here 45 years and I can’t remember the last person who’s been bitten by a shark out here,”
Ross said firefighters and police had cleared the beach, which was now closed. The duty manager at Whanga¯rei Hospital could not confirm the extent of the man’s injuries by edition time. Josie Scott, whose home overlooks the beach, learnt of the shark attack from neighbours.
“There were about six people surfing, none swimming as far as I recall. I saw a jetski go out and call the surfers back in. “I’ve lived here for over 20 years and this is the first time I’ve heard about a shark attack.”
Scott said a lot of campervans and surfers came to Baylys Beach whenever there were easterly winds. Baylys Beach Holiday Park owner Trish Rolfe said news of the shark attack was “pretty horrific” for Dargaville.
While they had never experienced a shark attack, they had found seals killed by sharks before, and that seals were migrating through Baylys Beach at the moment, she said.
“We’ve found seals that have come up to the beach to die.” It appears to be the first recorded shark attack in the Northland region. In records dating back to the 1850s, there have been fewer than 50 unprovoked, recorded attacks in New Zealand and none in Northland.
The last fatal shark attack was at Muriwai Beach, West Auckland, in 2013.