New Zealand shark attack Blood pooled around Adam Strange as he was repeatedly dragged underwater by a massive shark, unable to make it to the safety of a nearby rock. Fishermen called desperately to Mr Strange, a documentary maker and regular swimmer at popular Muriwai beach north of Auckland, where he was attacked and killed on Wednesday afternoon by what is believed to be a 4m long great white. "All of a sudden, we saw the shark fin and next minute, boom, attack him and then blood everywhere on the water," said witness Pio Mose, who was fishing on a rock near Maori Bay, just around a point from Muriwai Beach, about 1.30pm New Zealand time, when the attack happened. Mose immediately called emergency services and a friend ran to Muriwai to get lifeguards as they called to the dying Mr Strange. Mr Strange surfaced once more before Mr Mose realised he was dead. Witnesses said up to four other sharks also swept in on Mr Strange as blood spread through the water. It is not known if any sharks were killed or where they are now. Inspector Shawn Rutene said Mr Strange had been swimming from Maori Bay to Muriwai Beach, 200 hundred metres from shore. A friend of the family said he was training for an upcoming Ocean Swim. His family is heavily involved with the surf lifesaving club in Muriwai, and he was very familiar with the waters. On Wednesday night they released a statement saying: "The family are grieving the loss of a glorious and great father, husband and friend." They said they were in deep shock and requested privacy. An award-winning director, Mr Strange had a background in painting, photography and graphic design. He won a Crystal Bear with his first short film Aphrodite's Farm at the Berlin Film Festival in 2009. At the time he told Fairfax Media that the real prize for him was sitting in the dark, watching the film with people from all over the world and hearing them laugh. "All along we hoped we were making a Kiwi fairytale that had universal themes and appeal that went beyond borders or languages," he said. On his web page, Mr Strange wrote that when he got a spare five minutes, he liked to "make a fruit smoothy, surf some big waves out on the West Coast, point my skis down a mountain with Meg, haul my mountain bike up and down a few hills, drink some Pinot while scratching away at a film script..." The family friend said: "He surfs the beach everyday, he loves the ocean." Wellington student Stef McCallum, 18, said there were about 200 people on the main beach including two parties of school children. Panic broke out as word of the attack spread. Inspector Rutene said it took police and Muriwai lifeguards about 30 minutes to recover the body as the two sharks circled. He said they did not know if the shots hit either shark, but they "rolled off and disappeared." Ms McCallum saw a police officer go out in a surf boat and shoot at sharks. Another witness said: "I could see the IRB [rescue boat] circling the shark while those on board were shooting at it. There would have been three or four shots and the water was running with blood. From where I was I figured it was a pretty big shark. Inspector Rutene said Mr Strange's family had come down to the local surf lifesaving club, only opened on Saturday, where his body had been taken. They were distraught. The shark species was not identified, but experts say it was most likely a Great White given the size of the shark and that Great Whites have been seen at Muriwai. Muriwai Surf Lifesaving chairman Tim Jago the lifeguard who responded was shocked at the size of the shark. Muriwai has a history of shark attacks and there had been sightings earlier in the week of at least one giant shark. Surfer Bourne Nobel Buiski said there had been a "massive" shark spotted near surfers on Monday at Piha, 14 kilometres south of Muriwai. He said that a local man ran out of the water "white-faced and terrified." "He was saying that a great white, a massive great white had just swum right beside him," Mr Buiski said. No one believed him, he said. Former New Zealand surfing representative Shane Grimes said a large shark was also spotted earlier yesterday at North Piha. "Freaky as we had been in the water at North Piha earlier and a guy I was with saw a 10 footer swimming in the surfline, going north," he said. "I'm shaking, I don't really want to talk about it," the shop assistant, who didn't want to be named, said. Beaches north of Manukau Harbour will be closed for next two days, including Piha and Muriwai beaches.