Close-up look at shark

A beachgoer gets a close look at the washed up bronze whaler. Photo / NZME

A shark washed up on a Napier beach gave locals a rare close encounter.

Residents said they thought the shark, identified as a bronze whaler, was between 1.5m to 2m long.

Napier resident Libor Bombik and his family saw the shark lying on the beach.

Mr Bombik said his three young daughters hadn't been frightened and actually thought the shark was "pretty cool".

"My 6-year-old was pretty excited and was poking it ... even for me and my wife touching a shark's skin was quite cool."

Napier couple Nikki Fox and Michael Foster also stumbled across the shark 20m along the walkway between the Esplanade Westshore and Bayview.

Ms Fox said the only time she had seen sharks that close had been at the aquarium.

"I was thinking 'thank goodness I wasn't swimming at the time'."

National Aquarium of New Zealand exhibits curator Kerry Hewitt said as a section of the shark's intestines were outside its body, it could have been a bearing female who had come into shore to give birth.

It was hard to tell exactly how the bronze whaler had died but it "wasn't fresh".