Red Beach boatie spots great white shark

Facebook user Staffan Ljunggren posted footage of a great white shark tailing a boat off the coast of Auckland over the weekend.

The boat was off the coast of Red Beach when the shark approached vessel.

Footage shows the great white turn in the water almost playfully before disappearing into the depths of the harbour.

The sighting came after a shark was spotted in the shallows of popular Waihi Beach last month.

Onlookers watched from the shoreline as the sizeable shark cavorted in the shallow waters, in between small waves.

Two young fishermen in a kayak hauled in a large bronze whaler, estimated to weigh as much as 150kg, at Waihi Beach on New Year's Eve.

The kayakers, thought to be in their early 20s, spent about an hour bringing in the shark, before they let it go.