Click photo to enlarge
Lydia Ward and mother Fiona look at the bite marks in
Lydia's wetsuit. Photo by Robert Landreth.
A teenage girl who fought off a shark at Oreti beach was
lucky the predator only gave her an "exploratory bite", an
expert says.
Lydia Ward (14) struck the shark with her boogie board after
it had bitten through her wetsuit and sunk its teeth into her
hip.
She did not realise until she scrambled to shore that she had
been bitten.
Her injuries were not serious.
"I think it's quite lucky that I did wear my wetsuit," Lydia
said. "Because my brother was 2m away from me, and he wasn't
wearing a wetsuit."
Shark expert Clinton Duffy, from the Department of
Conservation, said the shark that attacked Lydia was most
likely a broad-nosed sevengill, which had a "very good set of
teeth" and was known to sometimes view humans as prey.
It could have been stalking her for a while before the
attack, and was capable of inflicting "very serious
injuries".
In Lydia's favour was that this shark would investigate its
potential prey with its teeth first, and was easily dissuaded
if a person fought back, Mr Duffy said.
Lydia was chest deep in water, waiting to catch a last good
wave alongside 10-year-old brother Alex on Monday night when
she stepped on something slippery on the sea floor.
"At first, I wasn't quite sure what it was. And I was trying
to say to myself it was just a piece of driftwood," she said.
"Then I stood on it again, and I just looked at my brother's
face and he said 'Whoa'. And I looked to my side and I just
saw this massive grey thing twisting in the water."
The shark lunged at her and bit her.
Lydia thinks the adrenalin flowing through her body might
have prevented her from feeling anything.
"So, I hit it with the end of my boogie board and that scared
it away."
She could see blood in the water "but I couldn't run . . . so
it was quite nerve-racking".
"I only realised it bit me when I hopped out of the water and
saw the bite marks through my wetsuit."
Mr Duffy said Oreti beach had been the site of shark attacks
in the past, but overall attacks were rare in New Zealand.
There are only 13 shark attack fatalities on record in New
Zealand waters, and on average there are about two unprovoked
shark bites a year, usually resulting in minor injuries.
Lydia and her brother estimated the shark was about 1.5m
long, which Mr Duffy said was standard for a sevengill shark.
Lydia's mother, Fiona Ward, said her daughter was cool-headed
by nature, and there was no screaming or hysterics.
Lydia said the attack had put her off going to the beach "but
it's still fine with rivers and lakes. So, I'll just stick to
them now".
