Another great white seen, 'big as a tractor'

Great white shark. Photo / File

Following the sighting of a great white shark in Auckland this week, another family have reported seeing a great white "the size of a tractor" leaping from the water further up the coast.

A week before Christmas, the Munro family were setting up camp on their farm at Okakari Pt near Leigh when they glimpsed what they believe was a great white.
Martin Munro's 12-year-old son Nehemiah and 11-year-old nephew Lachlan Matheson spotted the shark breaching the water.

The boys said the animal breached the surface twice, and estimated it was 5m to 6m in length.

"Nehemiah said it was the size of our tractor and it came out of the water and rolled over as it went," Mr Munro said.

"He's seen a lot of footage of great whites, so he knew what it was."

Many within the family are keen divers and Mr Munro said that had the conditions been better that day - December 18 - they would have gone out and attempted to get photos.

He said locals around nearby Te Arai Pt and the Pakiri river had also reported shark sightings in recent weeks.

The reported sighting follows that of a 4.5m great white in the Waitemata Harbour on Monday.

A family fishing from a 6m vessel near Te Atatu, West Auckland, hooked the predator on a fishing line.

A witness said the shark jumped high out of the water, snapping the line.

That sighting has led to the Department of Conservation putting out a warning to those out fishing, kayaking and kite-surfing in the area.

Shark expert Dr Malcolm Francis, of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), said both sightings sounded legitimate.

School sharks and bronze whalers were more commonly seen, he said, and it was very rare to see a great white jumping in New Zealand seas.

Dr Francis said there were "thousands" of great white sharks around the country - including very young ones - that could reach up to at least 6m in length.

"They're born about one and half metres long and they take 10 to 15 years to reach maturity.

"You've got a lot of smaller animals around the coast - mostly feeding on fish.

"You'll get a lot of those little ones around the Kaipara and Manukau harbours."