Shark spotted off Dunedin coast

Barbara Blake, with her dog Rupert, looks out into the surf from John Wilson Ocean Dr, Dunedin, from where she and her husband saw a white shark yesterday morning.

Husband John Blake said the shark was 1.8m long - "bigger than me".

"It was so sleek and fast. Gorgeous to look at." Mr Blake called police as he was concerned for the three surfers in the water near the shark.

One of those surfers, Aidan Dickson (pictured with Ray Wilson), left the water reluctantly on hearing Mr Blake yell "shark", as the "waves were too good". He had seen a seal in the water but not a shark.

Surfers were aware there were always sharks in the water. "It's just whether you see them or not," Mr Dickson said.

Senior Sergeant Steve Aitken confirmed police received the report, but said whatever it was, it had already moved on before police arrived.

Esplanade Surf School owner Steve Bennett believed the sighting was of a leopard seal.

"The police told us about 12.30pm that two people had seen a shark between St Kilda and Lawyers Head.

"People are used to seeing black seals and this was a lighter colour and about the size of a surfer.

"We see seals and sea lions all the time out here. They swim along the big channels to get fish."