Rescuer nursing bruises after encounter with Napier shark that beached beside dead pup

Teresa Allen spotted the 2m shark when walking her dogs along the beach. Photo / Supplied

A Napier woman was left "exhausted" after helping a stranded shark that had beached itself at Bay View beside its dead pup.

Teresa Allen said she spotted the 2m-plus shark when walking her dogs along the beach adjacent to Le Quesne Rd and felt like she needed to help.

"We were walking the dogs on the beach and I saw a shark beached," she said.

"It was next to its pup that was dead.

"My first thought was to push it back in with the waves. I got in the water, but it became a long, drawn-out ordeal of pushing it out and having it come rolling back onto my shins which are very bruised as a result."

A police spokesperson confirmed they received a report of a "large shark" on the beach near Le Quesne Rd, at the crossroads of Franklin Rd and Dorothy Pl, about 9.20am on Monday.

Allen, who helped save the stranded shark using a paddle provided by a nearby kayaker, said the creature was over 2m long.

"There was a kayaker who gave me a paddle and I dug it into the sand once I got her lifted," she said. "As the tide took her out again, I managed to get the paddle and move her along into the sea.

"We did that about five times and, eventually and miraculously, she just disappeared on one of the attempts."

Allen added: "It all took about an hour in total."

Police confirmed reports of a "large shark" on the beach on Le Quesne Rd around 9.20am on Monday. Photo / Warren Buckland

Described as grey with a white soft belly, Allen believes the shark is likely to have been a grey reef shark having difficulties birthing her pup.

Joe Woolcott, a General Curator at National Aquarium in Napier, said some sharks do use shallow waters for birthing their young.

"Some species will use shallower water for pupping," he said. "However, going in right up to the extent of ending up on the beach I'd suggest something else is likely at play there."

Orca had been spotted off Napier on Monday, which led to speculation that the shark may have been forced into shallow waters to escape being eaten.

Woolcott added: "I'd imagine it's most likely a school shark or a sevengill shark, but I'd needed to have seen it to be certain."

Whatever the species, Allen is relieved the dazed shark did not cause significant harm to her or itself.

"The shark was just tired and disorientated," she said. "I was aware that it was a shark, but it was in distress so I thought it wouldn't hurt me.

"I wasn't scared at all - it didn't enter my consciousness. That could be bravery or stupidity."

Allen added: "Afterwards, I was thinking, 'Oh my god, it could have hurt me'. But at the time I didn't think about it."