The body of a dead man clutching a lifejacket washed ashore early this morning.
A member of the public saw a lifejacket in the water near Tamaterau on the Whangarei Harbour.
"He went to hook up the lifejacket and found the man holding on to it," Northland Police said in a statement.
The body was that of a Maori man in his late 50s to early 60s.
Police said they identified the man this afternoon, but were yet to release his name to the public.
