The number of shark sightings in the Western Bay continues to grow, with an expert claiming warm waters and the need for the sharks to feed or drop their pups may be behind the rise.
Department of Conservation marine scientist Clinton Duffy is backing suspicions there are more sharks lurking off our shores than usual this summer.
"I would say to people that if you see a shark in the water, get to the beach quickly and quietly, without drawing any more attention to yourself than you already have."
He believed sharks were being lured to our beaches for food and warm water, or to drop their pups.
Makos, threshers, bronze whalers, sevengill and even the occasional great white shark could be expected to be found in Tauranga waters.
Last week, Bay angler Campbell Carter told the Bay of Plenty Times he had never seen so many sharks offshore before, prompting more readers to share their close encounters with sharks this summer.
Mick Forrest, operator of fishing guide company The F Spot Tauranga, also had an encounter with a shark last week while fishing for snapper about 5km from the Tauranga Harbour entrance.
"I was bringing up a barracuda when I saw it suddenly come up out of the depths and attack the barracuda."
Seeing the 2m mako suddenly emerge from the deep and attack the fish was a "scary experience", he said.
Mr Forrest also believed sharks were roaming closer to the beach this year, and said mako sharks could presently be caught from as near as 100m to 200m offshore. He told the Bay of Plenty Times he was catching an average of two bronze whalers each day from Papamoa Beach.
Mount Maunganui resident Diane Rogers stepped into the water to photograph a pair of sharks up close when they came within metres of shore near Oceanbeach Rd this month.
"One was about 6ft and the other one was over 4ft.
"I had never seen them that close before, so I went in my clothes to try to get a picture of one of them. My kids thought I was crazy.
"Maybe fishermen had been gutting fish on the beach and that attracted them in, I don't know," she said.
Earlier this month, Mount Maunganui man Seaton Rolleston was on his stand-up paddle board near Rabbit Island, about 30m from the beach, when he came across a grey shark he estimated was about 3m in length.
When he turned and quickly headed for land, he spotted three more sharks swimming below him.
He waited on the beach for 15 minutes before mustering the courage to return to the water.
"I wasn't scared, but it was a bit of an adrenaline rush ... it was kind of cool to see them there in their environment," he said.
They were among six sharks she had counted while walking along the beach this summer. Mr Duffy said bronze whalers were "innocuous" sharks and generally ignored or avoided humans, but became aggressive if they felt they were being cornered or when they were feeding.
He knew of one case where swimmers had been chased to shore by bronze whalers, although there had been no recorded attacks.
More shark sightings in Bay
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