Skipper Ryan Churches, owner of Churchy’s Charters in Whitianga in the Coromandel, New Zealand recorded a mako shark propelling itself onto the front of his fishing vessel which he uses to take up to five people on fishing trips from Whitianga wharf to catch kingfish, snapper and blue nose.
Those on board got a bigger catch than they were expecting when the mako shark caught them by surprise and jumped right in front of their eyes onto the front of the boat, thrashing around on the front hood.
Mako sharks are world-renowned jumpers, are nicknamed “blue dynamite”, and have been known to leap up to six metres out of the water.
The sharks, which are abundant in New Zealand coastal waters, can grow up to four metres long.
The 2.5 metre shark remained on the Whitianga boat for several minutes before returning to its home in the ocean.
While they reacted with shouts of “whoa…” and “holy”, one shouted to “get a picture”.
Churches said he was driving the boat taking five customers fishing for kingfish when the big catch landed itself.
“The shark got caught on the bait and then suddenly leapt out of the water right onto the boat,” he said.
“We were all shocked but everyone reacted better than I imagined – we were safe as we were protected by the windshield at the front.
“Lucky that the shark didn’t leap on the back of the boat as that is where everyone was fishing from so that would have been a different story – really dangerous.
“It was crazy – this has never happened before – I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years of being on the water. He estimated it weighed 150 kilograms.
“It was on the boat for more than two minutes but then it lowered itself back in the water safely – it wasn’t hurt so it was a happy outcome for everyone.
“My heart was racing – I had to sit down for a bit. Everyone was stunned. Then we took a few minutes, and then we just got back into fishing.”
When Church posted the video, hundreds reacted, saying it must have been “scary”.
One poster noted in the video that the crew had the toilet roll at the ready.
“Lucky that they have the toilet paper handy on the dash!”
The 7.7m boat, called Church, is equipped with safety glass windows, and five square metres of deck.
The fishing is done from the back of the boat.
The University of Waikato’s marine ecologist Phil Ross is spearheading the new research team in collaboration with locals, and according to the marine biologist, more sharks encounters are highly likely this summer.
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This was the first fatal shark attack in the region since 1976, when a spear fisherman was killed by a bronze whaler shark at Te Kaha – a small beach town near Ōpōtiki in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.
Since the attack at Waihī Beach there have been a number of great white shark sightings over the past year, with videos posted online of sharks circling fishing boats and chasing fish.
Since then, encounters have increased in the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty waters.
Wilson told Stuff that the shark was in hunting mode and “out to kill” as it leapt out of the water with “jaws wide open”, narrowly missing a 14-year-old boy who was surfing with his father and Wilson nearby.
