White pointer circles fisherman's boat

A great white shark circled a fisherman's boat for half an hour at the Tauranga Harbour entrance - sparking a warning for other water users to beware.
Alastair Blair of Tauranga snapped the three-metre-long predator on his cellphone camera after it approached his boat on Sunday morning off Matakana Island.
The retired construction superviser had been with a friend enjoying an afternoon's fishing when they had had their encounter.
"We had burley out and he came in with the burley," Mr Blair told the Bay of Plenty Times.
The shark had begun circling the five-metre-long aluminium boat, tapping the motor, and hitting it with its body.
"He must have been around the boat for about half an hour."
Mr Blair said he had been awe-struck.
"We were quite excited. It's not often you see a white pointer like that. I've been out there for 30 years and have never seen a white pointer."
Great whites usually roam around Stewart Island, Chatham Island and areas where there are large seal colonies.
Mr Blair said he had been at the north entrance to Tauranga Harbour near Matakana Island and water depth had been about 15m.
He expressed concern for surfers who frequented Matakana Island, not far from the sighting. "There are people who go surfing at the Matakana bar and there's a shark out there. Maybe he's gone, maybe he's not. But I just want people to know there's a white pointer hanging around."
Mr Blair's only regret was not having taken his camera with him, and having had to resort to using the camera in his cellphone.
Department of Conservation marine scientist Clinton Duffy confirmed Mr Blair's pictures were of a great white.
Although great white sightings were infrequent in the Western Bay of Plenty, this one had not been surprising, he said.
"Harbour entrances like at Tauranga often have a high concentration of food.
"You have schools of snapper and fish spawning there, which attracts bigger predators like sharks."
October to March was also considered "shark season".
Mr Duffy said great whites were migrational and moved around a lot, travelling up to 100km a day. However, if the feeding was good it was likely a shark would stay in the area.
Mr Duffy said there was no reason for people to be overly alarmed and he often heard of sharks appearing when fishermen brought in their burley.
This year there had been 13 reported sightings of great whites around New Zealand that Mr Duffy was aware of "but that will be greatly understated I suspect".
Top national surfing competitor Tim O'Connor said the sighting would not put him off.
"If someone saw a shark it could be hanging about or it could be just cruising but it's not going to stop me from going for a surf," he said.