A great white shark that circled then swam beneath a fisherman's boat near Waipu has sparked a warning for other water users to be wary.
The message comes after Whangarei fisherman Bradley Leggott had a close encounter with a great white shark that was making a beeline for the large snapper he was reeling in off Waipu last week.
The commercial fisherman heads out three or four times a week, about 2.5 kilometres off Waipu River, to catch fish for his fish and chip shop, Stumpy's on Riverside Dr.
Mr Leggott said he had anchored his 5.8 metre boat and had been fishing for nearly two hours when he suddenly saw a white flash after he had tipped burley into the water and hooked the snapper.
"At first I thought it was my snapper coming up but it progressively got bigger and bigger and I knew exactly what it was.
"Its back came out of the water before it went under the boat between the anchor and bow and disappeared.
"At this time, we're familiar with mako sharks and with my fishing background netting pilchard in South Africa, I am familiar with the likes of the great white sharks," he said.
It was the first time he had seen a great white shark in New Zealand since he moved eight years ago from Durban.
The close brush with the shark, which was about 2.5 metres long, hasn't put him off, although he admitted it did frighten him.
Mr Leggot landed his 8kg snapper and continued fishing for another three hours before returning to Whangarei.
The last time he saw a great white shark was in South Africa about 12 years ago.
DoC shark expert Clinto Duffy said the great white shark Mr Leggott saw was a juvenile as bigger ones could be up to seven-metres long.
"They are pretty widespread around New Zealand waters at this time, based on tagging studies, when they return from the tropics," Mr Duffy said.
He said the sharks didn't aggregate in Northland as much as they did in southern New Zealand where they fed on to seal colonies.
In March, his team tagged one such shark that travelled about 113km a day from Stewart Island to Fiji.
Mr Duffy said shark threats would hover around until March or April next year.
"People should be a bit careful in the water for a while," he warned.
Early last year, a great white shark was found tangled in a gill net by a commercial fisherman in Kaipara who handed it to DoC.
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