Blue shark spotted in Pilot Bay (+video)

A shark at least 1 metre long shocked and fascinated beach-goers when it cruised through the shallows of a popular Tauranga beach.

Tauranga resident Charlene Page and her boyfriend Kerry Lammas were having lunch at Pilot Bay about 1pm yesterday when they spotted the shark in waist deep water near Salisbury Wharf. They estimated it was about 1.8m long.

The blue shark then swam in so shallow its underside was scraping on the sand, she said.

"He seemed hungry and quite curious ... he literally came right up to us and was looking up at us."

Miss Page said she was "petrified" of sharks and would be hesitant to swim at Pilot Bay this summer.

"We're always going out there swimming and fishing. I'm really absolutely petrified of them, so for me to see a shark in the shallows like that ... It's definitely put me off [swimming]. I think I might just think about it twice. I might go to Lake Taupo," she said.

"I am sure people see bigger ones during the summer but as I was walking on the cement path next to him he felt huge. I don't know why he came on to the sandy part of the beach.

"We were three people standing on the cement footpath wall section and he most certainly looked at us almost like he knew he was being photographed."

Department of Conservation shark scientist Clinton Duffy confirmed it was a juvenile blue shark.

He said it was "very common" to see sharks in Tauranga Harbour, but it was quite unusual to see a blue shark in that area.

"Blue sharks are an oceanic species, so it is quite unusual to see one in the harbour, especially in such shallow water.

"Blue sharks are one of the most abundant large sharks found in Bay of Plenty waters but they're normally found well offshore."

Mr Duffy said the shark in the photo appeared to be about a metre in length, which would make it two or three years old.

There was a seasonal population of bronze whalers in the harbour which were "pupping" at this time of year, Mr Duffy said. These sharks would rely on shallow water as a nursery habitat.

He said blue sharks over 1.8m long should be treated with caution in the water because they were attracted to shiny or pale coloured objects and had a propensity to bite at objects to determine if they were edible.

Generally they did not pose a risk to swimmers or divers, but if stimulated by blood or berley (chum) they could be very difficult to deter.

Blue sharks (Prionace glauca)
Reach a maximum reported length of 4m, but most seen in the Bay are around 1-2.4m long.
Feed on a wide range of fish and squid.
Blue sharks' bodies are extremely flexible and they are capable of biting their own tails. For this reason they should never be handled anywhere behind the dorsal fin (unless someone else has a firm grip on the head). - Clinton Duffy, DoC