Loved ones say goodbye to New Zealand dad killed by large shark

WELLINGTON (AP) - About 150 friends and family of Adam Strange wrote messages to him in the sand and stepped into the water on Thursday at a New Zealand beach to say goodbye a day after he was killed by a large shark while training for an endurance swim.

Strange, 46, was an award-winning television and short film director and the father of a 2-year-old girl. He was swimming near popular Muriwai Beach on Wednesday when he was attacked by the shark that was possibly 4 meters long.

Police attempting to save him raced out in inflatable boats and fired gunshots at the enormous predator, which they say rolled away and disappeared. They couldn't confirm if they'd killed it. Police were able to recover Strange's body.

Muriwai and several nearby beaches remained closed for swimming after the fatal attack, one of only about a dozen in New Zealand in the past 180 years.