Two-metre great white shark gives fishermen a fright north of Auckland

Thursday, 4 January 2018

Fisherman Logan Booler grabbed his camera when a 2-2.5m great white shark brushed past the boat he was on in Wenderholm.

A two-metre great white shark surprised two fisherman north of Auckland on Wednesday.

Logan Booler was on board a small fishing boat near Wenderholm with skipper Lewis Brown when a shark swam up close to the boat.

Booler said it was his first-time fishing near that spot but he'd seen a number of sharks around Tiritiri Matangi Island, out in the Hauraki Gulf, already this summer.

The great white took Booler and skipper Lewis Brown by surprise.

The skipper said he felt vulnerable, but Booler was 'amazed'.

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It was not unusual for a great white to be seen in the shallows this close to Auckland, Department of Conservation marine scientist Clinton Duffy said.

There had been three great white sightings in nearby Stanmore Bay at this time last year, and one of those was a repeat visitor, Duffy said.

The shark Booler saw near Wenderholm was a juvenile, around two to three years of age, and measuring no more than 2.5m, he said.

Great whites are commonly found in New Zealand waters, with some migrating from the east coast of Australia and Pacific in our warmer months.

'The shark was there for the same reason the fishermen were there – food,' Duffy said.

Duffy runs a photo identification programme of great whites in New Zealand waters, but said he couldn't see enough of the colour markings in the video to identify this one.