Youth Attacked By Shark At Waitarere Beach

Chronicle (Levin), 7 February 1949, Page 4

Youth Attacked By Shark At Waitarere Beach

Attacked by a shark when bathing beyond the breakers at Waita-j rere Beach on Sunday, a young man from Levin had a narrowj escape and was fortunate in- regaining shallow water suffering from a bruised right leg and exhaustion.

He said this morning that he entered the water about a mi'.e down the beach, north. jef the guesthouse, and swam out to deep water beyond the small breakers. The sea at the time was very cairn. His first indication of danger was the sight of a long grey object, about six feet in length, which he recognised as a shark. It banked suddenly and came straight to- 1 wards him. He couldn't' move fast| at first, so kept splashing about inl the water hoping to keep the shark j away. With the help of a large' breaker he swam towards the shore, pounding the water with his feet. The shark followed him ini until the water reached the depth of about 18 inches and then it turned suddenTy, its tail striking the swimmer's leg, and headed1 back out to sea. Completely exhausted and suffering from shock, the youth regained the beach in a state of collapse. j His father and some friends were on the beach and had earlier been fishing in the locality. They could see from the swimmer's actions that something was amiss, but did not see the shark. This morning the young man still carried a bruise on his leg.