Opoutere Beach has been closed and reopened twice today following a shark sighting. Photo / Google Maps
Opoutere Beach has been closed and reopened twice today following a shark sighting. Photo / Google Maps
The sighting of what a beachgoer thought was a great white shark has resulted in the closure of a Coromandel beach.
Opoutere Beach, 19km north of Whangamata, has been closed and reopened twice today following the shark sighting.
Manager at Opoutere Coastal Camping Sarah Kunac said surf lifesavers had madethe short trip up from Onemana to patrol the beach after a woman reported that she saw a great white shark in the waves.
She said the woman had said the shark was about 2m long and swimming in the shallows, about two waves in.
"It was lurking about and the woman said she had followed it right down the beach."
There was no proof that the shark was a great white, she said.
Kunac said they saw sharks like bronze whalers "all the time" and they were thought to be harmless.
However, people were "hyper-aware" after the incident where a teenage girl died after being attacked by a shark at Waihī Beach on Thursday evening, she said.
