Two sharks spotted in the water off Auckland’s East Beach

Swimmers at a popular Auckland east coast beach are being warned to stay out of the water after two large sharks, one the size of a small boat, were spotted close to shore this morning.

Auckland City Council advises swimmers and recreational boats on Eastern Beach to be careful after a confirmation that sharks were present.

At least two, believed to be great whites, have been spotted just 600 meters from shore.

A person who was in the water and saw the pair said that one was at least 5 meters long, slightly smaller than their ship.

“We were in a 26-foot (8-meter) boat and next to one of them,” said the shipper who did not want to be identified.

“They’re very big. We went back in. We didn’t want to be there, to be honest.”

He said he alerted the Coast Guard to the danger they posed.

“We were more concerned about kids on the beach and people on jet skis,” he said.

It comes the day after a popular beach on Auckland’s west coast was cleared by a shark sighting.

An alert was posted on the Auckland City Council’s Safeswim website advising against swimming at Muriwai Beach.