Multiple sightings of great white sharks in New Zealand’s far north have prompted an official warning from the Houhora harbourmaster.
Greg Gemmell, harbourmaster of the Northern Regional Council Houhora warned that “large sharks that are rather hungry” had been spotted inside the harbour and up the coast on local swimming beaches. He advised people to take care while near or in the water.
Robbie Van Tiel was fishing in the Houhora Harbour on March 14 when a large great white began attacking his live baits. He told Storyful the shark, an adult female around 4 metres in length, was “slicing through 200lb leader like a hot knife through butter”.
Van Tiel said that two days earlier, a smaller great white had come up to his bait pot while he was fishing, before leaping out of the water to nip at seagulls. He also uploaded images of this younger shark, saying he had been told by locals that the larger shark was mother to a young pup.
Multiple other people have uploaded videos of great whites in Houhora in the last two months. Credit: Robbie Van Tiel via Storyful
