Surf rescuers fear a sand bar whipped up by stormy weather on Northland's Uretiti Beach where a crab hunter drowned on Christmas Day will endanger more lives over the holidays.

A male surfer waved for help and was pulled from the ocean by a member of the public at a South Auckland beach today.

Family members arriving at a Christmas Day get-together found police cars outside the home after a little relative drowned in a swimming pool set up in the backyard.

A 1-year-old child has drowned in a temporary backyard pool at a residential address in Manurewa today.

The toddler who drowned in a shallow pond on a farm near Westport has been named. She was 21-month-old Anamiek Manshande.

Police are investigating the circumstances around how a 21-month-old toddler drowned in a shallow pond that was fenced off.

A 21-month-old girl was playing outside her Westport home before she died after falling into a farm pond yesterday, police said.

The heroic actions of a teen who swam to shore to raise the alarm during a family fishing tragedy were last night lauded by her relatives.

A desperate man managed to send two text messages to his partner after his boat sank, but they were dismissed as a joke.

Coroners' recommendations are being ignored and that needs to change to prevent more deaths, says a report.

Police are trying to establish whether there were more than one person involved in the death of Arran Gairns.

A Wellington woman will appear in Timaru District Court today charged with assaulting a man who was later found dead in an Ashburton industrial area.

Two Kaikoura men who drowned while collecting crayfish pots last December were not wearing working lifejackets, a coroner has determined.

The partner of a man who drowned at a beach known for its unpredictable conditions says a local motel owner told the family it was safe, new coroner's findings reveal.

Kiwis trying to save someone else made up half the people who drowned over summer - 'would-be' rescuers who perished while the person they tried to save survived.

More people drowned this summer than last, and would-be rescuers featured prominently in the toll.

A teenager drowned swimming across an artificial lake after seeing his mates having fun on the other side.

The brother of a 15-year-old boy who drowned while rescuing a young girl off Auckland's west coast says he lives in his brother's footsteps.

Fishing enthusiasts keen to set nets at a popular, but dangerous, Auckland beach should be wearing lifejackets, a coroner says.

A person has drowned near Ruakaka Beach in Northland today.

An 18-year-old woman who was revived after she was found at the bottom of a Hamilton swimming pool died last night in hospital.

Waikato police are warning swimmers to "look before you leap", as an 18-year-old woman fights for her life after being found at the bottom of a motel pool.