[Benjamin]

This happened on the beach not far from me, today.

A witness has described a police officer firing multiple shots at a shark which attacked and killed a person at Auckland's Muriwai Beach today.

Were you at the beach? Send your photos, video and newstips to newstips@stuff.co.nz

Fisherman Pio Mosie told Stuff that he saw a man swimming nearby.

"All of a sudden... we saw the shark fin and next minute, boom, attack him then blood every where on the water," he said.

He called 111 while his mate ran to get help.

"He was still alive, he put his, head up, we called him to swim over the rock to where we were.

"He raised his hand up, and then while he was rising his hand up we saw another attack pull him in the water.

"He came back up, his head was on the water... then we notice he was already dead."

He heard the police then fire shots from the police helicopter and a few shots from the life guard boat.

"I don't know if they got the shark, killed the shark or not."

Emergency staff confirmed the person's body had been pulled from the water following the early afternoon attack. The shark had been killed but was still floating in the water.

Wellington student, Stef McCallum, 18, said they were first aware something was wrong when a man ran across to the surf club to get help.

A woman told us a man had just been killed by a shark, she said.

"She said there was a big pool of blood in the water."

McCallum said they saw a police officer go out in a surf boat and shoot the shark.

"He fired about 20 shots."

Around 200 people were on the beach and people quickly ran.

"Everybody was evacuated from the water. Word of mouth, 'shark', and everybody left the water."

TV3 reported from the beach that as many as three sharks may have been involved.

A witness told them he spotted the lone swimmer while he was out fishing at the beach, shortly before 2pm.

The distressed man signalled for help when he was attacked by a shark, before he was pulled underwater.

At this point, the witness said three or four other sharks appeared in the area.

Other surfers reported a large shark in the water at the rivermouth at north Piha today.

"We thought it was pretty cheeky because it was right in the surf line, heading north," one said.

A staff member at Sand Dunz dairy said people were coming into the dairy "speechless".

"I'm shaking, I don't really want to talk about it," the shop assistant, who didn't want to be named, said. "Everyone's speechless."

Earlier this week surfer Bourne Nobel Buiski posted on Facebook that there had been a "massive" shark spotted near surfers on Monday at Piha, 14 kilometres south of Muriwai.

He said that a local man ran out of the water "white faced and terrified".

"He was saying that a great white, a massive great white had just swum right beside him," Buiski said.

No one believed him, he said.

"As they are so rare here. There were about 60 people there, and no one came in."
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A local resident, who did not want to be named, said Muriwai had always had sharks.

''Out the back of Oaia Island is a huge crater on the ocean floor and fishermen say they have seen huge sharks in the area and will not go diving there.''

The beach was crowded with children from Glen Eden Intermediate and Avondale College, a Fairfax reporter on the scene said.

Auckland City Council said the beach had been closed for the day.

Piha Beach, south of Muriwai, had also been closed, lifeguards said.

A Surf Life Saving spokeswoman said lifeguards had not spotted sharks at Piha in the past week.

She referred all questions relating to the shark attack to police.

There have been 14 known fatal shark attacks in NZ, since records began around 1837, according to Department of Conservation shark expert, Clinton Duffy.

"In the last 20 years we have been averaging two shark incidents, where the shark actually bites someone, a year."

"Those are generally on swimmers and generally result in fairly superficial flesh wounds," Duffy said.

The last death was in 2009, when a kayaker was mauled by a great white in the Coromandel - whether he drowned before the shark found him is still disputed. Before that the last death was in 1976.

Global shark attacks have increased every decade since 1900. Last year's 12 fatalities, three in Australia, was almost three times the average of 4.3 from 2001 to 2010, according to the International Shark Attack File.

There are more than 60 shark species that come to New Zealand waters. The majority are little-known species that live deep below the ocean surface.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8359...ills-beachgoer

[Ammi]

"In the last 20 years we have been averaging two shark incidents, where the shark actually bites someone, a year."

..that seems so unusual to have 4 of them together like that..?...I wonder why they were there, what attracted them and what made them attack...that's horrible though and traumatic for everyone seeing it...poor guy..an awful way to die...

[Shaun]

not really sure what shooting the sharks would have achieved... another example of mankind's stubborn idiocy. Don't swim in parts of the ocean known to contain them

[Omah]

I ain't scared of no sharks .....






I'm just ...kin' terrified .....

[Nedusa]

Hate sharks especially the big ones like the Great Whites, they serve no purpose other than to eat humans.

Kill em all wipe em out the whole species... Why not !!! I'm sick of reading about people being eaten by sharks...!!!!

[arista]

Makes a change
China is Cutting their Fins off
for soup
then the Evil punks
chuck the dying shark back in the water.

To think China can destroy our World

[arista]

Originally Posted by Nedusa

Hate sharks especially the big ones like the Great Whites, they serve no purpose other than to eat humans.

Kill em all wipe em out the whole species... Why not !!! I'm sick of reading about people being eaten by sharks...!!!!

Because its needed as a balance
with other fish


Do you ever read about China
and how they Murder thousands of sharks for their soup
Thats far worse

[arista]

Originally Posted by Shaun

not really sure what shooting the sharks would have achieved... another example of mankind's stubborn idiocy. Don't swim in parts of the ocean known to contain them

Yes
Respect them

[SharkAttack]

Surfing or swimming in the ocean, out a ways, is like parachuting. Every now and then the chute doesn't open or something goes wrong. It's a risk, always, but a very rare event.

That being said, the only thing that goes into the ocean(on the shores) are my feet, same with the kiddies.

RIP to this poor man, and agreed, not a good way to go out.

Worst I ever had was a crab grabbing my toe whilst surfing in the Atlantic, and stepping on an upside down horseshoe crab at some point...and then some jellyfish stings, and then nearly drowning after a riptide pulled me away in the Pacific in Guatemala. Not too bad in comparison to a shark attack. Did anyone else have parents or relatives who would sit under a beach umbrella and do Sunday crosswords without actually watching or caring what their children did? lol

[Marc]

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by Nedusa

Hate sharks especially the big ones like the Great Whites, they serve no purpose other than to eat humans.

Kill em all wipe em out the whole species... Why not !!! I'm sick of reading about people being eaten by sharks...!!!!

Exactly what I was thinking!!

Originally Posted by Shaun

not really sure what shooting the sharks would have achieved... another example of mankind's stubborn idiocy. Don't swim in parts of the ocean known to contain them

I suppose the thinking is, that those sharks now have utilised us a food source they are more likely to attack humans again.

I agree with your point though, it satisfies revenge and blood lust in one go.

I'm loving how this thread has turned Arista into a sensible liberal.

Welcome to the world, Arista.

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

Originally Posted by Marc

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by Jesus.H.Christ

I suppose the thinking is, that those sharks now have utilised us a food source they are more likely to attack humans again.

I agree with your point though, it satisfies revenge and blood lust in one go.

I thought sharks only attacked humans as on surfboards as we look like turtles?
Sharks don't eat us, just chew us up a bit

[Kazanne]

Originally Posted by Shaun

not really sure what shooting the sharks would have achieved... another example of mankind's stubborn idiocy. Don't swim in parts of the ocean known to contain them

100% agree with this.

[Josy]

Poor guy

Originally Posted by Nedusa

Hate sharks especially the big ones like the Great Whites, they serve no purpose other than to eat humans.

Kill em all wipe em out the whole species... Why not !!! I'm sick of reading about people being eaten by sharks...!!!!

They are an important part of the world/oceans and are needed to balance the ecosystem, they have been around for millions of years, maybe they think what purpose do we serve and that's why they attack humans since humans are the ones that are trespassing in their natural habitat?

Originally Posted by Kizzy

I thought sharks only attacked humans as on surfboards as we look like turtles?
Sharks don't eat us, just chew us up a bit

We'd probably look more like Seals, when on surfboards. I think the fact this guy kept being pulled down, suggests that once the blood is flowing then they grab the meat.

I don't think anyone really knows how shark brains work, but once a meal (however small) seems to be identified by natures predators, then all bets are off.

[arista]

Originally Posted by Jesus.H.Christ

I'm loving how this thread has turned Arista into a sensible liberal.

Welcome to the world, Arista.

I was LibDemConservative
before they got power


China is Evil on Shark killings

Originally Posted by arista

I was LibDemConservative
before they got power


China is Evil on Shark killings

LibDemConservative is an oxymoron, as this experiment has showed.

[GypsyGoth]

It's strange that hundreds of people get knocked down and killed by cars each day and there is hardly any outcry. One person gets eaten by a shark and people worldwide want to take revenge on sharks.

[Marc]

We should hunt the cars!!

[GypsyGoth]

Originally Posted by Marc

We should hunt the cars!!

With harpoons!!!

And fit sharks with ipod docking stations, and bluetooth.

[Suze]

Originally Posted by GypsyGoth

It's strange that hundreds of people get knocked down and killed by cars each day and there is hardly any outcry. One person gets eaten by a shark and people worldwide want to take revenge on sharks.

Well there's human logic for you. It makes no sense does it.

Poor sod, but silly bugger too for putting themself in harms way in the first place.