It’s Summer In New Zealand… and You Know What That Means

According to the New Zealand Herald, a close encounter with a big shark added a little excitement to this summer’s first beach weekend when bathers were sent scurrying from the surf three times at Papamoa Beach yesterday.

The 8 ft thresher shark swam so close to shore it was clearly visible as it sliced through the shallows. The shark was seen swimming around at 1pm and when it didn’t move away, swimmers were told through loud speakers to leave the water. When swimmers realized what it was, they high-tailed it outta there.

An inflatable rescue boat was used to scare fish off to encourage the thresher away. The beach reopened 10 minutes later once the shark had swum off. Half an hour later it was back, coming right into the shallows. When it returned a third time, some swimmers were over it and stayed in the water to get a closer look. Huh?