East Auckland locals wary of waters after shark washes up on beach

Thursday, 5 December 2019

Locals were nervous about swimming at this suburban beach after a bronze whaler shark washed up.

The discovery of a bronze whaler shark washed up on a beach has locals nervous about going for a dip.

Amanda Aggio received a photo of the shark, found on Tuesday at Auckland’s St Heliers Beach, from a friend.

The find made her family 'very worried' about swimming at the beach, she said.

Bronze whaler sharks are often seen in shallow waters across the country and can grow to be three meters long.

'We decided we are not going swimming anymore.'

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A bronze whaler shark spotted in the shallows at Langs Beach in 2018.

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But Department of Conservation marine expert Clinton Duffy said it was not uncommon for sharks to wash up on beaches at this time of the year.

“They are often caught and discarded by fishermen,' he said.

'We encourage people to try and release them unharmed, but sometimes it doesn't happen like that.'

Duffy identified the shark as a juvenile bronze whaler from a photo.

He said bronze whalers are often seen in shallow waters across the country.

'We will normally look into it, but in this case because there weren't any endangered species involved, that's where our responsibility ends,” he said.

According to DOC, bronze whaler sharks can grow up to three metres long and don't commonly attack people.

In 2013, 46-year-old Adam Strange was killed when he was attacked by two sharks at Muriwai, one of which was a bronze whaler.

A fatal shark attack in 1976 at Te Kaha in the Bay of Plenty was thought to be by a bronze whaler.

Fatal shark attacks are rare in New Zealand, with 15 fatal attacks since records began in 1837.

On Sunday, Aggio was with her son at the same beach when the 9-year-old spotted two stingrays.

'We were surprised to see quite a big stingray in the sand, which means that we have stingrays swimming very close to the shore,' she said.

The larger stingray was about 60cm in length and 40cm wide while the smaller one 'looked like a baby', she said.

A penguin was also discovered at Kohimarama Beach on Wednesday.

Massey University’s Wildbase Hospital director Brett Gartrell said it is not uncommon for penguins to wash up on the beach after they die.

“Without a necropsy on the animal, it wouldn't be possible to speculate on the cause of death,” he said.