Shark attacks rare in New Zealand, but swimmers should be wary, scientist says

A sign at Auckland's Omaha Beach after a shark was spotted there in January 2024. Photo / Lydia Lewis, RNZ

• Diver Jade Kahukore-Dixon died in a shark attack near the Chatham Islands in November.
• Great white shark sightings in Kawhia harbour have prompted a warning from the Department of Conservation.
• Riley Elliott says shark attack risk is low; advises avoiding swimming near fishing areas.

By Krystal Gibbens of RNZ

Summer is upon us, and as the hordes head to the beach to enjoy the water, some sharks are also heading inshore.

In November, diver Jade Kahukore-Dixon died in a shark attack near the Chatham Islands.

And in recent weeks, there have been sightings of great white sharks in the Kawhia harbour, prompting the Department of Conservation to issue a warning to swimmers.

But shark scientist Riley Elliott said the risk of shark attacks was actually pretty low.

The most common shark people will see in the North Island and Upper South Island is the bronze whaler. Photo / Lydia Lewis, RNZ

Over summer, sharks headed inshore to drop off their pups in nursery habitats, he said.

Those areas were usually warm, calm, shallow and had lots of small fish, and generally happened to be the nice places people liked to swim in.

“But what that does mean is we don our Speedos and we go to the beach and we see sharks.”

The most common shark people would see in the North Island and Upper South Island was the bronze whaler, Elliott said.

A bronze whaler shark swimming near Tauranga's Pāpāmoa Beach earlier this year.

Further south, they could encounter the sevengill shark and the great white shark.

Sharks predominantly did their own thing, but to reduce being appealing to a shark, he recommended avoiding swimming in areas where people were fishing. Likewise, fishers should not discard their filleted fish parts in areas where people would swim, Elliott said.

Sharks like the bronze whaler also loved fish and were drawn to areas where people went fishing.

People needed to remember that when they were in the sea, they were in a wild environment with wild animals, he said.

“We should remember that it is their supermarket that we are venturing into.”

The deadliest of the sharks was the great white, but Elliott said they usually posed the biggest risk to surfers.

“That’s usually aligned with the fact that surfers dress up like seals wearing wetsuits and surf around where seals aggregate.”

But that was a very small portion of the population and most surfers understood that risk, he said.

The risk of a shark attack was tiny compared to the risk of drowning, he said.

For the safest way to enjoy the ocean, he advised people to swim between the flags.

- RNZ