Man attacked by great white shark at Baylys Beach, Northland

A surfer from Northland survived a large white shark attack, but left bite marks and a jagged tooth buried in his surfboard.

The attack took place at Baylys Beach, near Dargaville – this is the first attack in the Northland region.

The 20-year-old man from Whangarei was slightly injured in the incident around 6 pm and was transferred to Whangarei Hospital for treatment.

Deputy Chief of the Dargaville Volunteer Fire Department, Michael Ross, said the victim had been bitten at several places by the shark, but that she "walked and talked".

"He has it in his hand, his elbow, a little on his mouth." He was definitely in pain and there was some blood.

"I have lived here 45 years and I do not remember the last person who was bitten by a shark here," Ross said.

Ross and the police stated that they did not know what type of shark had attacked the man.

But conservation science shark scientist and expert Clinton Duffy said it was a big "indisputable" attack on white sharks, probably "of a size". reasonable". He pointed to the spacing between the teeth marks on the surfer's board and said that the tooth left stuck in the board came from the lower jaw of a tall white one.

"The tooth [in the surfboard] is the lower jaw of a large white and the bite diagram also shows … it is undeniable. "

Duffy said that he would need a measure of the tooth to know for sure the size of the shark and whether it was a juvenile or a kid. adult.

"It's hard to say, but it sounds like a reasonable size fish."

Even a large juvenile white was large – females matured between 4.5 and 5.2 m and about 1800 kg and males between 3.6 and 800 kg.

Duffy said that large whites were common around the Northland coast all year, but that most near – shore sightings took place in the summer.

Most people survived large white attacks because these attacks were characterized by a bite and a release, he said.

There have been two or three other major white attacks off the coast of Northland in recent years, among 113 unprovoked attacks by sharks of all types in New Zealand waters since 1840.

The shark "would not even know" that he had lost a tooth and that a replacement would soon grow in his place, Duffy said.

He was tracking down some excellent whites in Kaipara Harbor and they tended to move along the coast quite quickly, he said.

"This shark probably evolved [from Baylys Beach]. "

Ross said the beach was closed by police.

A police spokeswoman said that the man was overrated at the time of the attack and that he was bitten by the arm and by hand.

"He went to shore as a result of the attack.A man helped him after the attack by taking him on the beach, in his environment."

The man was picked up by the rescue helicopter in front of a store located on Seaview Road, called Sharkeys Takeaways, she said.

Josie Scott's house is on the beach and she can see the police talking to the surfers at the scene.

The Northland Emergency Services Trust rescue helicopter left the beach just after 7 pm, Scott said.

"I just watch the police and the helicopter, I do not see any small flippers there."

The scene was calm but no one was in the water.

"All the surfers have been called back."

The beach is popular with surfers, especially on days like today, where conditions were "quite suitable".

"It's a beautiful day, I saw half a dozen surfers earlier."

Surfers in the water were invited out by someone on a jetski, Scott said.

The owner of Baylys Beach Holiday Park, Trish Rolfe, said that the announcement of a shark's attack was "rather horrible" for the small community of Dargaville, in Northland. Rolfe said that although they had never suffered a shark attack before, they had already found seals killed by sharks, and that seals were currently migrating through Baylys Beach. "We found seals that came to die on the beach."

In records dating back to the 1850s, there were fewer than 50 unprovoked recorded attacks in New Zealand.

The last deadly shark attack took place in Muriwai in 2013.