Lifeguards erect a sign warning beachgoers of a bronze whaler spotted at Omaha Beach on 3 January 2024. Photo: RNZ / Lydia Lewis
There has been another shark sighting this summer, this time at Omaha Beach, which was packed with beachgoers.
The bronze whaler was spotted at the popular beach, about an hour's drive from the Auckland CBD, at about 4.40pm.
One of the life guards who spotted the bronze whaler called it in and a Westpac helicopter which was in the area also confirmed that the shark was in the water.
St John said the helicopter was in the area responding to a medical event on the beach, which was not water related or shark related.
Holidaymakers pressed pause on their swimming plans for 30 minutes.
Surf Lifesaving NZ had recorded more than 40 first hand sightings of sharks across two regions in the past fortnight.
And while lifeguards were used to sharing the water with sharks and most of those seen were not big enough to cause alarm, Surf Lifesaving eastern manager Chaz Gibbons-Campbell said, he warned people to be cautious.
A teenager was killed in a shark attack late in December off South Australia's coast.
And several shark attacks had also already been reported in New Zealand waters this summer, including on the Wairarapa coast and in knee-deep water in a Southland estuary.