Brian Rogers Rogers Rabbits www.sunlive.co.nz

Not a metaphor. The sharks really are circling. A couple of sharks emerged from the depths this week and did what sharks do best. Snap at opportunity.

Our first encounter was over a reef off the southern tip of Great Mercury Island.

I'd bagged a couple of nice butterfish and a moderately good snapper, feeling very happy with the world and was quietly stalking a really big snapper, just around a kelpy rock outcrop. Suddenly a large torpedo shape cruised into my path.

Pretty sure it was a mako, with blue topsides, a distinctive line along its length fading into a lighter colour – pointy nose, dark eyes and the top of its tail slightly longer than the lower part. I didn't think they grew bigger than 4m. This was bigger. It may have been a white (like the one that pursued Brendan Faulkner in his dinghy a few months ago in the same area) but the markings don't tally, and mine was a sexy shaped shark. Whites tend to be pretty ugly from the front, like a Humber 80 with a bent front grille.

I was surprised at my reaction. Hollywood has conditioned us to panic.

That didn't happen. I thought there must be something wrong with me. People are supposed to thrash about in wild bouts of terror. I was far too intrigued to do much at all. I was massively disappointed that the camera in the underwater housing was sitting on the boat, half a mile away.

Watching the shark circle I was anxious, but not fearful. I remember thinking, well, if this is it, there's not much I can do. Any thoughts of self-preservation were swept aside, in total awe of the beauty and grace of this big creature. And it was big. The body was the diameter of a wine barrel and it was at least 12 foot long. Things underwater look about 25 per cent bigger through a mask, even then, it was still BIG. We've seen plenty of two or three metre makos and the occasional thresher, but they were guppies compared to this mother.

A couple of opportunist kingfish escorted on each flank, I remember chuckling through my snorkel thinking they must be the shark equivalent of Christine Rankin's earrings. A kind of fishy status symbol. I did wonder for a milli-second if I could pick one off with the speargun without hitting the shark... no, silly idea. I would not pluck off one of Ms Rankin's danglers without expecting at least a good slapping.

I remember saying a few other words through my snorkel too. Along the lines of 'that's a mighty big shark,” although 'mighty” may not have been the exact terminology. There were quite a few F words, such as flippin fantastic fish … or something along those lines.

Sizing up the distance from the shore and the massive beast that was sweeping in between, I distanced myself with the 20 metres of rope to my floating catchbag, (wishing now it was 100m) and hoped the shark was more interested in that. Keeping the speargun between myself and the shark, I figured it could eat that first if it came at me, teeth first. Finning quietly away on my back, watching the beast the whole time, it followed for a good five or six minutes, nudging the catchbag a few times and making some eerily close passes to me. I unclipped the floatline and said through my snorkel 'float away, far away”.

The opposite happened. A wave picked up the float and it came whooshing within reach, so I tipped out some of the contents. The shark swooped for a look at a butterfish, but left it.

Seizing the snapper by the tail, I whipped it out, threw it as far as you can throw a slippery fish, and tried to stealthily add distance. The snapper was technically well dispatched, having been iki spiked, but still giving the odd twitch. The shark took it in one smooth gulp, more of an inhale than a bite. I never saw any teeth, just one smooth collection manoeuvre.

I was hoping that was it, but it followed me, still circling and passing close, until I closed the gap to the mainland.

Then I noticed something peculiar – all the fish that generally had been swimming away from me, suddenly starting overtaking me beneath. Even a few stingray shot through the lower passing lane. I didn't think that was a good sign and sure enough, the shark came zooming up from behind and below, eyeballed me again and then U-turned at speed and disappeared just as I reached the shallows.

Near the beach, Claire was swimming out to meet me.

'Get out of the water,” was all the advice needed. I always knew she was a fast swimmer.

When all seemed clear, I recovered the remains of my catch and a few bits of gear strewn around the bay. Telling the story on the beach, with a couple of steadying bourbons, the reality started to sink in.

Returning to the boat, anchored less than 50m off the beach, we were only 20m out in the dinghy when Claire yelled 'there's your shark”.

That was an hour after my first encounter. It was still there, this time coming straight at the dinghy – dorsal fin cutting a direct path towards us and the tail occasionally breaking the surface. The stuff of movies.

It passed underneath and turned in its own length right under the inflatable, in less than two metres of water.

It was then we confirmed the size of the shark. Seemingly twice as long as the 2.5metres inflatable and we could see both pectoral fins either side of the dinghy. It then took off at speed, straight out of the bay.

We've no idea what motivated this approach. The only wild theory was it may have been excited by our new experimental electric motor on the dinghy. Bearing in mind sharks hone in on electrical impulses from their prey, could it be that the electric motor silently working beneath the surface was attracting attention?

In that case, why do we not hear similar stories from divers with underwater scooters?

Who knows, really.

One thing is for sure, I feel privileged to have seen such an amazing animal, without being eaten.

I do not want to see it again.

Shark encounter No.2

This is not a tale of an impressive, elegant wonder of nature. It is the sad story of some opportunistic scavenging.

The mayor of Tauranga has publically backed another newspaper organisation, endorsing its products and declaring it 'your community news, this is your local paper”.

Wrong, Mr Crosby. Wrong that you are publically endorsing another product.

Wrong in your rant, that the other paper is community news and wrong that it is local.

Sun Media is the only local paper. It is locally owned and operated by the Rogers family.

The Times is Australian owned and ceased being a locally owned paper when the Cross family sold it. Nor is it community news.

It is not the community paper. The Weekend Sun is your community paper.

It's not the job of the mayor to run around playing favourites. Nor for that matter, the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce. Max Mason, I wonder why Sun Media is still a principle sponsor of the chamber?

The pair of you should be ashamed.

Why is the mayor scavenging and back slapping with the Australian-owned media? Is it election year? How, Mayor Crosby can you on one hand lambast the media at a recent Papamoa Progressive Association meeting, then turn around and suck up?

Mr Crosby, your endorsement is completely inappropriate. You should retract or resign.

Yes, the sharks are circling.