Great white shark washes up on popular beach

The carcass of a great white shark washed up on a Mount Maunganui beach earlier this week. The discovery was made after a pod of orcas were spotted in Tauranga Harbour the day before. The shark was initially spotted by surfer Tao Mouldey, who said he’d had it ‘‘pointed out to him’’ on Wednesday night. ‘‘It was just lying on the beach at about 6pm,’’ he told SunLive. ‘‘It freaked me out a bit. I was a bit hesitant to get back out in the water. You hear about sharks a lot more out at Matakana (Island), but not at the main beach.’’ According to passers-by, the shark was missing its tail and was ‘‘badly decomposed’’. Waikato University researcher and marine ecologist Phil Ross said the missing tail could indicate the shark had been attacked by an orca, but he admitted he could not be ‘‘completely certain’’ without seeing the carcass himself. ‘‘Sharks have always been here,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s not a cause for concern, however what we should keep in mind is being sensible about howwe go into the ocean.’’