Playful sharks scare off swimmers at Papamoa

Sharks frolicking in the waves at Papamoa frighten away swimmers.

Sharks flapping their tails in the waves at Papamoa was enough to send several swimmers beating a hasty retreat to shore on Saturday.

The 2m-3m sharks, pictured, believed to be bronze whalers, were spotted by Summer Wilson and Isaac Chase.

"The sharks were flapping their tails in the waves and splashing around. They were probably there for 10 minutes," Mr Wilson said.

Papamoa Surf Life Saving Club lifeguards watched the sharks through binoculars until they went back out to sea.

Later in the day, a bronze whaler was caught on a kontiki long-line further up the coast near Harrison's Cut.

In another shark incident, Mount Maunganui surf lifeguard Kent Jarman said a mako chased some fish close to shore at Omanu. "No-one seemed too alarmed."

He said makos were more active than bronze whalers, which were quite docile and tended to avoid people.

The season's first bluebottle jellyfish have started appearing down the coast, with a few washing up at Omanu Beach yesterday and a member of the public spotting one at Papamoa East on Saturday.

Perfect bathing conditions yesterday drew thousands to Tauranga's beaches, with Mount lifeguards estimating the mid-afternoon crowd at 1500 on the beach and 400 in the water.

Surf conditions were flat compared with Saturday when a swell caused some nasty rips. Lifeguards performed a number of preventative actions to stop swimmers getting into trouble.

Rookie 14-year-old Mount lifeguard Jaamin Fuller swam out to perform his first rescue yesterday, bringing in a person who had drifted out too far.

Mr Jarman warned that despite yesterday's flatter conditions, there were still tricky rips at Tay St around a big hole south of the public toilets. There were six saves at Tay St on Saturday where people struggled to get back to shore. None were serious.

He said people needed to be careful about where they chose to swim at Omanu.

Much of the North Island was bathed in sunshine yesterday, with temperatures in the mid to high 20s.

And fine weather was forecast for most of the North Island in the coming days.