Shark attack tips kayaker into sea

By DANIEL JACKSON

A kayaker on a quest for seafood nearly became a meal himself when a shark, thought to be a great white, attacked his craft.

Michael Hogan was kayaking about 1.5km from shore, between Sandy Bay and Whananaki on Northland's east coast, on his way to get paua when he was lifted and dumped into the sea on Saturday in what has been described as a classic great white attack.

"There was just this explosive 'whumpf' noise and then I fell out," said Dr Hogan.

At first, he thought he had hit a rock, but the clearly visible bite mark on the bottom of his bright yellow kayak has been identified as belonging to a shark at least 4m long which probably mistook his kayak for a whale.

The bite punctured the tough plastic on either side of the hull and measures about 45cm from the top outline of the jaw to the bottom.

Dr Hogan said he was unafraid when he went into the water, and concentrated more on keeping hold of his paddle than on the grey-green shape he saw swimming away.

"I thought it couldn't have been a shark because I didn't see any fin and then it just disappeared."

But kayaking buddy Hugh Oakley-Browne, who was 50m away when the attack happened, had no doubts.

"I heard a noise like a 'thunk' and when I looked over, the boat was just starting to flip and there was something grey attached to it that wasn't on it when we left."

He paddled over to Dr Hogan and noticed a long, deep gouge in the bottom of the kayak.

"I checked that he still had his legs, which were dangling in the water, and then I helped him get back in."

The pair continued to Whananaki but made sure they hugged the coastline on their way back.

Department of Conservation marine scientist Clinton Duffy, who keeps a record of shark attacks in New Zealand for the International Shark Attack File, had little doubt the kayak had been attacked by a great white.

"There's really nothing else that could do it."

He had never heard of a kayak being attacked in New Zealand waters, but a shark did puncture an inflatable boat some years ago in a similar attack.

"It was lifted out of the water too."

Mr Duffy said the shark would have probably seen the silhouette of the kayak from below and confused it for a small whale or large dolphin.

"They usually attack from below and behind on their prey. They do one massive and incapacitating bite, then they let them bleed to death on the surface and come back and feed on them later.

"This shark would have grabbed the kayak, thinking it was something yummy, and got a nasty surprise when it got a mouth full of plastic."

Mr Duffy said recent publicity had highlighted the numbers of great whites in New Zealand waters. But they were no more common than in the past.

Only nine sightings of great whites had been recorded last year, compared to the average of about 14 a year.

This summer, great whites have been spotted in Whitianga and near Maketu in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

On Friday, in neighbouring Hahei, experienced fishermen thought they saw a great white only 500m from shore.

Last month, a 2.6m shark was caught in a net 300m off the Takapuna Beach boat ramp.

Mr Duffy said shark attacks were rare in New Zealand, and no one had died in one since 1976.

Herald Online Marine News