Adam Strange: Brave widow of film director mauled to death by Great White Shark returns to scene of
Brave widow of film director mauled to death by great white shark returns to scene of attack at New Zealand beach with their daughter
- Adam Strange, 46, attacked at Muriwai beach near Auckland
- Shark up to 14ft long pulled him under the water on Wednesday
- More sharks drawn to the attack as police fired shots in rescue attempt
- Widow attended re-opening of beach with the couple's daughter
- Mr Strange's funeral will be held at Muriwai beach today
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Clutching her young daughter in her arms, the widow of a film director mauled to death by a great white shark stands on the same beach where, days before, her husband was dragged beneath the waves as he swam off the shore.
Adam Strange, 46, was attacked by the enormous shark off New Zealand's Muriwai beach last Wednesday.
His wife Meg returned to the scene of the horror attack north of Auckland with the couple's daughter, Indigo. Muriwai had been closed to swimmers in the wake of the tragedy, but re-opened at the weekend.
Bereaved: Megan Strange brought her daughter to the reopening of Muriwai Beach, days after her husband was attacked by a shark off the shore
A funeral service for Mr Strange, 46, will take place today at the beach, which is close to the family's home. Up to 1,000 people are expected to attend the service.
Muriwai Lifeguard Service chair Tim Jago told the New Zealand Herald the ceremony would be 'upbeat' and 'quirky'.
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Share'As Adam is taken out of Muriwai for one last time, I think there is going to be a fairly entertaining, theatrical departure for him,' he said.
Lifeguards and police had battled in vain to save Mr Strange when he was targeted by the great white shark as he swam just 200 yards from the shore on Wednesday afternoon.
Mr Strange had waved and called for help as the creature dragged him underwater to the horror of witnesses on Muriwai.
Police fired 20 shots at the killer shark in a desperate rescue attempt.
Up to four other sharks, attracted by blood in the water, are understood to have joined in the attack, which occurred at around 1.30pm.
Final goodbyes: The day after the attack Mrs Strange was comforted by a friend at the beach, where her husband's funeral will take place today
The father of one lived locally and was known to the traumatised young lifeguards who joined the fight to save him.
'Glorious': Mr Strange was attacked as he swam off Muriwai beach on Wednesday afternoon
Pio Mose was in a group fishing on rocks near the beach when he saw a ‘huge’ shark attack the lone swimmer 50 yards from where he was standing.
‘All of a sudden we saw the shark fin and next minute, boom, attack him and then blood everywhere on the water,’ said Mr Mose in the wake of the tragedy.
He said Mr Strange had appeared to struggle with the shark before it swam away – and then it, and others, came back.
Mr Mose called the police on his mobile while a friend ran for help.
He said: ‘He was still alive. He put his head up. We called him to swim over the rock to where we were.
‘He raised his hand up and then while he was raising his hand we saw another attack pull him in.’
Mr Mose said that as blood filled the water, three or four more sharks arrived. The fishermen were forced to watch as the shark carried the man’s body out to sea.
‘It’s awful – like a nightmare. I was shaking, scared, panicked.’
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Police in inflatable rubber boats shoot at a shark off Muriwai Beach in New Zealand as they attempt to retrieve a body following a fatal shark attack
At least three sharks are believed to have been involved in the attack
Mr Mose, who said he had never seen sharks before despite fishing in the area for three years, added: ‘All I was thinking was I wanted to jump in the water and help, but I didn’t want to get attacked, too.’
Police rushed to the scene and officers in a helicopter guided another on board a rubber boat to where the 12ft to 14ft shark was swimming near the victim.
He then fired around 20 shots into the water, witnesses said. It was unclear if the shark had been killed. Inspector Shawn Rutene said he could not confirm whether the shark that was shot, and which ‘rolled away’ as a result, was involved in the initial attack.
Predator: It is thought Mr Strange was attacked by a great white shark
He refused to say if it was attacking Mr Strange at the time. Police took 30 more minutes to retrieve his body.
Adventure lover Mr Strange had worked all over the world, according to his website. His short film Aphrodite’s Farm was in ten major festivals and last year won the Crystal Bear award for best short film at the Berlin Film Festival.
He had also been a finalist at the London International Awards.
His family, some of whom live overseas, said in a statement Mr Strange was a ‘glorious’ person, a ‘great father, husband and friend.’
The New Zealand Herald said Wednesday's fatal shark attack may have brought Auckland's swimming season to an abrupt end, with attendance down at Muriwai and other beaches in the upper North Island over the weekend.
Grief: There were emotional scenes at Muriwai Surf Lifesaving Club after the fatal attack
Volunteer lifeguard service chairman Tony Jago said the victim's family was 'very upset', left, after police spoke to media about the attack, right
Scene: Muriwai beach was closed in the wake of the attack on Wednesday
Police said the swimmer was about 200 metres from shore when he was attacked
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