Wellington's mayor had a close encounter with a shark while volunteering to be the rescue swimmer in a man overboard exercise using a dummy.
Celia Wade-Brown spent the weekend aboard the HMNZS Wellington as it went from Wellington to Auckland to get a taste of what life was like aboard the patrol vessel.
During the man overboard exercise, naval officers had to shoot at the water to scare off a blue shark.
Ms Wade-Brown said she heard the rifle ring out and was told to let go of the dummy.
