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A shark has been seen so frequently on a popular beach in Abel Tasman National Park that it has been given a nickname.
However, his almost daily appearances continue to cause a stir on Tōtaranui Beach.
Laurel Ketel, who is staying at the popular camp with her family, said that when the shark was spotted Sunday afternoon, parents were yelling at their children to get out of the water.
He was about five meters from the children when they realized that the adults were yelling “shark!”
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Sightings of the shark, believed to be a bronze whaler, had become so frequent that they had been dubbed Brutus, he said.
Ketel said they all ran down the beach, following the shark as it swam up the shoreline, before turning around to follow it all the way back.
Laurel Ketel / Supplied
Totaranui bathers followed a shark, believed to be a bronze whaler, from the shore as it swam up the beach.
It was common around 3pm every day to see the shark swimming up and down the length of the beach.
Nelson’s Sandy Edwards was shaking a lot after entering the water and getting within six feet of the shark just a few feet from shore Sunday afternoon.
She had previously asked others on the beach to watch the water while she went swimming, but after entering, the shark seemed to be heading straight for her.
Edwards said he wouldn’t discourage her, but it was a very scary experience.
Laurel Ketel / Supplied
A shark, believed to be a bronze whaler, can be seen in the center of this photo, taken on Totaranui Beach in Abel Tasman.
She had been on vacation in Tōtaranui since she was a child and said she hadn’t seen a shark there in decades.
One free diver who said he had been diving since 1980 has seen a large increase in sharks in the last five years, but said it was unusual to see them swimming near the beach.
Last month, a shark on nearby Whariwharangi Beach sent swimmers running out of the water when it was spotted sailing close to shore.
While some fishermen believe that the number of sharks in New Zealand waters is increasing, DOC Marine Technical Advisor Clinton Duffy has said that there is nothing to indicate a population boom and that the number of recent shark sightings is “very typical”.
