A man has captured the moment he and one other diver had to fight off a frenzy of sharks who were after their catch of the day.
Last month, Zach Pattie was out spearfishing in the Bay of Islands when suddenly he became surrounded by a shiver of sharks.
"Quite often we see them, like one or two, but we don't normally see it like that. It's probably the most hectic experience," Pattie told Newshub.
Pattie, who has been spearfishing for years, had shot a kingfish which caused a sudden outburst of sharks from 10 metres below the two divers.
He said there were at least 20 bronze whaler sharks, which have an average length of two metres. The sharks demolished the fish and then turned to the divers.
"Once the fish was gone they were sort of in a frenzy, and came up and had a go at us," Pattie said.
"We were pushing them away with our spear gun."
Pattie said the sharks charged at them and brushed against them a few times but didn't open their mouths.
Thankfully, the sharks soon realised the divers were not fish food and left them alone.
The pair then quickly swam back to their boat.
Around 70 species of sharks are found in New Zealand's waters. They range from the tiny pygmy shark to giant whale sharks. And in between are several that are dangerous, including the great white and mako sharks.
However, for those scared of a shark encounter, an expert has previously told Newshub it's very unlikely.
"Sharks are actually really lazy. They aren't bothered by humans at all and very few types of sharks would ever interact with humans," Felix Berghoefer from Kelly Tarlton's said.
"Most sharks are literally just out to catch fish and stay away from humans. Humans aren't on the spectrum of prey that sharks hunt."
