Eleven great white sharks have been spotted at a single site in the Kaipara Harbour - the largest concentration of the species yet seen in the upper North Island.

Four commissioners have been appointed to decide whether a resource consent should be granted allowing part of the Rena wreck to remain on Astrolabe Reef.

A mother and her son who were swept out to sea at a Hawkes Bay beach have been discharged from hospital and are back home recovering.

When Ian Waterson saw a mother and her child being swept out to sea he ran outside, jumped onto his 4WD farmbike and drove straight into the ocean.

A veteran yachtsman spent two cold, wet hours perched on the mast of his heritage yacht after it hit rocks and sank in the middle of the night.

A man who attempted to swim across the Waikato River last night is presumed drowned, according to police.

A man was rescued off the Northland coast overnight after a yacht struck rocks and sank.

The king penguins huddle together, protecting their eggs from the cold, as others waddle across the ice into the water.

Ports of Auckland is probably one of the few ports to own and operate its own harbour pilot service, writes Phoebe Falconer.

Family and friends of a young Chinese man who drowned in Northland on Christmas Day are campaigning for bilingual warning signs about deadly coastal rips.

Searchers looking for a missing swimmer at a West Auckland beach found a body yesterday morning.

Agony for family of missing swimmer Johnny Faitaua after body found in the water near Bethells Beach, west of Auckland.

Family of missing swimmer hold vigil at Auckland beach as rescuers search coastline.

A second search has been carried out at daybreak for a man missing off O'Neills Bay on Auckland's west coast.

Sir Richard Branson sprays honeymooners Sir Ben Ainslie (right of group) and his new wife, Georgie Thompson, on Necker Island.

The Royal New Zealand Navy has discovered a third fishing vessel with illegal catch in the Southern Ocean.

Wondering how my local beach fared after a hot day with lots of human activity, I took my dogs for a run and did a spot of rubbish collecting along the shore and rock pools.

Two sharks, believed to be bronze whalers, made their presence felt at Papamoa Beach yesterday, causing several swimmers to make a quick dash to shore.

It has been a tragic summer in New Zealand waters, with eight drownings since Christmas Day.

International researchers are coming together to investigate a powerful force that lurks hundreds of metres deep in the Tasman Sea.

The family of a 25-year-old man who went missing while snorkelling in Northland this afternoon are scouring the beach for any sign of him.

Off-duty lifeguards have saved two teenage girls caught in a rip and screaming for help.

Fears are growing for the lives of eight crewmen after a cargo ship overturned off the north coast of Scotland.

The Hauraki Gulf is at its most alluring - glassy calm and sparkling blue in the sunlight - and thousands of Aucklanders in small boats hover above the fishing reefs.

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.

They died together and now two men caught up in a tragic boating accident in the Manukau Harbour this week will be farewelled together.