Film director killed by shark in New Zealand

Police comfort a woman believed to be a family member of a man attacked by a shark at Muriwai Beach near Auckland, New Zealand, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013. / AP Photo/Ross Land

AUCKLAND, New Zealand A shark possibly 14 feet long killed a swimmer near a popular New Zealand beach on Wednesday, then disappeared after police attempting to save the man fired gunshots at the enormous predator.

Muriwai Beach near Auckland was closed after the fatal attack, one of only about a dozen in New Zealand in the past 180 years.

Pio Mose, who was fishing at the beach, told The New Zealand Herald he saw the swimmer struggle against the "huge" shark. He told the man to swim to the rocks, but it was too late.

"All of a sudden there was blood everywhere," Mose said. "... I was shaking, scared, panicked."

Police in inflatable rubber boats shoot at a shark off Muriwai Beach near Auckland, New Zealand, Feb. 27, 2013, as they attempt to retrieve a body following a fatal shark attack.

/ AP Photo/Ross Land

Police Inspector Shawn Rutene said in a statement that the swimmer was about 650 feet offshore when the shark attacked. He said police went out in inflatable surf-lifesaving boats and shot at the shark, which they estimate was 12 to 14 feet long.

"It rolled over and disappeared," Rutene said, without saying whether police are certain that they killed the creature.

Police recovered the body of the swimmer. The Herald reported that he was Adam Strange, a 46-year-old television and short film director, and that his family issued a statement expressing their shock and requesting privacy. (Scroll down to watch a video report from the Herald).

On his website, Strange lists surfing "big waves out on the West Coast" as one of his favorite hobbies. Strange's short film, "Aphrodite's Farm," won a Crystal Bear award at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival, according to the Internet Movie Database.

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Headlines: Rare fatal shark attack in New Zealand

About 200 people had been enjoying the beach during the Southern Hemisphere summer at the time of the attack. Police said Muriwai and other beaches nearby have been closed until further notice.

Police did not say what species of shark was involved in the attack. Clinton Duffy, a shark expert with the Department of Conservation, said New Zealand is a hotspot for great white sharks, and other potentially lethal species also inhabit the waters.

Attacks are rare. Duffy estimated that only 12 to 14 people have been killed by sharks in New Zealand since record-keeping began in the 1830s.

"There are much lower levels of shark attacks here than in Australia," he said. "It's possibly a function of how many people are in the water" in New Zealand's cooler climate.

He said that during the Southern Hemisphere summer, sharks often come in closer to shore to feed and to give birth, although that doesn't necessarily equate to a greater risk of attack.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time they ignore people," he said. "Sometimes, people get bitten."

Around the world, sharks attacked humans 80 times last year, and seven people were killed, according to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File. The death toll was lower than it was in 2011 but higher than the average of 4.4 from 2001 to 2010.

[questam]

I feel for the family, but I don't think the police needed to try and kill the shark. We are the ones invading the sharks natural habitat.

[iPhoney]

Why not, it's natural selection if they aren't smart enough to swim away or are unable to defend themselves agains the ultimate predators: Humans.

[aderotimi_adedoyin]

it is rather unfortunate that valuable human life is lost through this accident of nature, my condolence to the bereaved family. Sharks are not domesticated marine mammals and not friendly like wild, harmless dolphins swimming in the ocean. The swimmers must have been deceived by the deceptive slogan that the water was safe and the chance of shark's attack was remote. The ocean is an immense subset of the universal nature, it should be respected, studied, and revered with (ethical) decorum. Sharks, crocod
iles, tigers or lions do not come to the cities or theatres to disturb human beings; let the global media disseminate information and enlightenment on the needs to give nature its deserved divine respect May God give the family and friends of the departed film director the fortitude to bear the loss.

[rundunnyrun1]

I agree.. people hold the animal responsible. I have to say I'm sorry for the family, but let's face it, he threw himself right into the food chain. Regardless of when their last shark attack was, it happened again. Sharks for the most part are opportunistic feeders, They swim, they eat, and they make little sharks, and that's about it. They have been doing this for millions of years. The man was about 600 feet off shore. Probably above a reef or some outcropping that smaller fish live in. The small fish know the sharks are there, the sharks know the fish are in the cover. It is an unfortunate chain of events that led to this poor guys death. I believe it was said he swam into a feeding.. who knows, but what I am saying is if people swim in the ocean, this is going to continue to happen.

[hnblab]

Finally! :)

[hnblab]

The reason that we don't "kill off" all sharks is because it would completely mess us the eco-system and the "circle of life". It amazes me the ignorance people have when it comes to sharks. There is no need to kill a shark-you are in its territory. It's a chance you take when you swim, snorkel or dive. If you are seriously a lover of the ocean then you respect the creatures that are in it. Shark attacks are low-sharks cannot see very well and often mistake people for seals (flippers) or the trashing of a swimmer as injured prey and will attack. There is a reason that sharks do not completely consume a human and why a lot of people manage to get away from a shark but then die later from blood loss-they do not favor the taste of humans and will bite and let go. Sharks are amazing creatures and need to be respected and protected from idiots. Expecting an ocean to not contain a shark is like expecting a bear to be in the woods. I hate articles that make sharks out to be "jaws"-when will the media actually do an article that defends sharks-not make them out to be monsters

[hnblab]

*thrashing

[PhloxSkye]

Humans. YOu are not superior. You are food when you are out in the wild and ocean.

[cbsnewssuxazz]

"Police recovered the body of the swimmer. The Herald reported that he was Adam Strange, a 46-year-old television and short film director, and that his family issued a statement expressing their shock and requesting privacy. (Scroll down to watch a video report from the Herald)."

Really classy there CBS, the family requests privacy to deal with their loss, right after that sentence, accentuated with parentheses. SCROLL DOWN TO WATCH A VIDEO REPORT!!! Nice way to respect privacy. wow, both CNN and CBS lost a viewer this week. start respecting families rights to privacy. you morons.

[Swingmanic]

Wrong place, wrong time!

[rykatspop]

Yep, this is a tragedy. I understand that this was about a guy not thinking it over better, so no finger pointing from me. We make mistakes. He paid a price. What gets me are the morons that swim with sharks, sleep with grizzly bears--all in the love of nature. Now those are fools I have zero empathy for. You can't out run a bear. You can't out swim a shark. You can't possibly know what they are thinking just by looking into their round eyes. And you can't match them bite-for-bite, pound-for-pound when things go wrong.

And, I doubt humans are as tasty to sharks as sea lions are. I doubt they prefer human meat. But what do I know.

[migsly]

Research indicates that about 100 million sharks are killed each year by humans -- roughly 11,000 sharks every hour.

[enough-already]

That number sounds highly doubtful. Could you please indicate your "research" sources? At that rate, sharks would be extinct in a few years.

[enough-already]

My "research" indicates the following:

"The total number of sharks killed and passing through the fin trade is estimated to be between 26 to 73 million, with an average (median) of 38 million killed each year."

Source:http://iucnssg.org/index.php/faqreader/items/how-many-sharks-are-killed-annually-each-year

[bsrasmus1]

Is there a good reason why we shouldn't hunt sharks to extinction?

[migsly]

About 100 million sharks are killed each year by humans -- roughly 11,000 sharks every hour.

[bsrasmus1]

Maybe we need to bump that kill rate up a bit.