A shark expert is warning Kiwis to be careful when overlapping with the animal's feeding grounds in the ocean this summer.
An increase in shark warnings at Tauranga's Pāpāmoa Beach has prompted marine scientist Riley Elliot to remind Kiwis of the do's and don'ts when heading into the water.
Do more shark sightings mean a riskier beach?
There have been multiple Safeswim shark warnings issued at Pāpāmoa Beach recently. Elliot said this has been a summer with a lot of sightings because of the weather, clear water and calm seas.
"The beach is very plain, there's no reef or big schools of fish life - which is ultimately what the sharks do in the mornings and the evenings, they feed," Elliot said.
"When we see them in the daytime, they are just resting in the shallows. As the tide comes in you can see the sharks coming in to sunbathe."
He said the bronze whaler sharks often like to hang out in the shallows after they feed.
"They are all about efficiency, and they spend a lot of energy catching crayfish at dusk and dawn," he said.
"Then they need to conserve all that energy and ride into currents like the shallow, white water wave areas. That way, they don't have to swim to breathe.
"Unfortunately, it is in the same area we generally like to relax as well."
However, Elliot said that just because there are more reports of sightings it doesn't mean there's imminent risk - it's more of an awareness policy.
"Shark sightings and shark risk don't go hand-in-hand," Elliot said.
"The lifeguards have been saying the warning is that sharks are present in the water, it's not a warning that sharks are a danger to people.
"People heading into the water just need to be more careful."
The sharks' supermarket
Elliot said when you're fishing or swimming, you need to accept the risk that you are going into the "sharks' supermarket".
"I was spearfishing just the other day near a shark and I was stealing its food," he said.
"I speared a kingfish, and four sharks came up to us and we were holding our ground and then the bronze whalers let us have it.
"We went down and swam towards the shark to show them 'this is our kingfish'."
He said the bottom line is that it's all about your confidence.
"People with no experience will freak out and panic, ditch their fish, and then the shark realises it's an easy game," he warned.
"They learn very quickly to exploit behaviour."
Elliot warned sharks can easily mistake children for fish carcasses.
"Sharks like to turn up to shallow bays where people fillet their fish, but when you get children jumping in the water and making the same sized splash as a kingfish carcass, then you can run into trouble," he said.
"I've seen in some places where people overlay with sharks' food on reefs and that needs to be avoided.
"Just do your best to not overlap with their food."
