Shark attack 'just like Jaws'

Beach re-opened to swimmers

JOHN SELKIRK/ Dominion Post

'JUST LIKE JAWS': Omaha Beach lifeguards Lauren Johnson and Kris O'Neillshow where a huge shark attacked their inflatable boat. Lauren said the shark 'had kill on its mind'.

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Two lifeguards were forced to dash to the safety of shore after their inflatable boat was attacked and punctured by a huge shark.

Lauren Johnson, 19, who was on board, said the encounter at Omaha Beach, north of Auckland, was "just like Jaws".

"It had 'kill' on its mind," she said of the shark, which is thought to have been a bronze whaler.

Ms Johnson and fellow lifeguard Kris O'Neill, 24, had been sent to investigate sightings of a shark off the beach at 2pm yesterday.

They found it 100 metres offshore and started to scare it away by revving the engine of their inflatable rescue boat.

But the shark turned on them, attacking the engine and biting a chunk out of the starboard pontoon where Ms Johnson was sitting.

"It didn't seem to like us much," Mr O'Neill said.

His hand was on the controls just a foot away from the shark's mouth as it tried to make a meal of the outboard engine.

"Those teeth looked pretty big all right."

The boat's pontoon went down after being holed, and the shark began "headbutting" the bottom of the boat, where Ms Johnson was now lying.

She was terrified that she was going to end up in the water with the beast, which she said was as long as the four-metre boat.

"I was really scared. I just screamed at Kris to get back to shore."

Mr O'Neill said the shark did not follow them in as they made a beeline for the sand.

"I think it knew it had won."

Omaha Beach re-opened this morning, and Surf Life Saving Northern Region Lifeguard Manager, Dean Storey, said that the public should not let the incident put them off going back into the water.

"Yesterday's shark attack was an isolated incident. The risk of drowning is far greater than a shark attack.

"Public safety is paramount and lifeguards at Omaha will continue to survey the beach for changing conditions throughout the day."

Meanwhile, the lifeguards, from the Omaha Lifeguard Service, said the attack would not put them off their duties.

"I'll be back in the water [today]," Ms Johnson said.

Mr O'Neill said the aggressive behaviour of the shark had been a shock. "I've had them nudge boats before, but never anything like that."

This summer has seen a spate of shark sightings, with great whites seen off Taranaki and last weekend near Kapiti Island.

A shark expert at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Malcolm Francis, said bronze whalers were rarely aggressive, but could attack if they felt threatened.

"It was probably just swimming along quietly looking for some kahawai to eat, then along comes this great big orange thing and starts annoying it," Mr Francis said.

- © Fairfax NZ News