Shark attack was like "Jaws", says lifeguard survivor

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Shark attack was like "Jaws", says lifeguard survivor

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A popular New Zealand beach was reopened to swimmers on Tuesday with lifeguards keeping a close watch on the water following a large bronze whaler shark`s attack on an inflatable boat which caused it to start to deflate.

Two lifesavers told of the attack on Monday as they tried to chase away the shark which was cruising about 100 metres off shore at Omaha Beach, north of Auckland.

"It was just like Jaws," Lauren Johnson, 19, told the Dominion Post. "It had `kill` on its mind."

"I thought I was going to die - I thought my number was up," she told the New Zealand Herald.

Johnson and fellow surf lifesaver Kris O`Neill, 26, said the shark, which was as long as their 3.8 metre boat, turned on the vessel, repeatedly ramming it from below.

"Normally, you drive up to a shark and they take off pretty quickly - they don`t like the boat at all," O`Neill told Radio New Zealand.

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