Kaelah Marlow died after being pulled from the water by emergency services.
But marine biologists say there is no need to panic. Kelly Tarlton s lead aquarist Felix Berghoefer told Newshub in December most sharks aren t bothered by humans at all. Most sharks are literally just out to catch fish and stay away from humans, he said. Humans aren t on the spectrum of prey that sharks hunt.
Berghoefer says there will often be a shark within about 200 to 300 metres of swimming. There are actually quite a lot of sharks in the water but, like I said, they aren t bothered by people; they keep their distance.
Three sharks spotted at popular Coromandel beach Newshub 9/01/2021
Three small sharks have been spotted at Pauanui Beach in the Coromandel.
A surf lifesaving spokesperson told Newshub the lifeguards asked all swimmers to get out of the water.
Swimmers have been advised not to panic, as keeping out of the water for an hour from the last sighting is standard procedure.
The sighting comes after 19-year-old Kaelah Marlow died on January 7 after being pulled from the water by emergency services at Waihi Beach, in what s thought to be a shark attack.
Her death has been referred to the Coroner but initial indications are that she was bitten by a shark.
They re portrayed as human killing machines and that their only purpose in being alive is going around and hunting humans, that s absolutely not true. Sharks are actually really lazy. They aren t bothered by humans at all and a very few types of sharks would ever interact with humans. Most sharks are literally just out to catch fish and stay away from humans. Humans aren t on the spectrum of prey that sharks hunt.
So if they are so uninterested in humans, why do they sometimes attack them? Well, Berghoefer said mostly when a shark bites a human it s out of curiosity, not hunger.