A bronze whaler swimming quietly in the shallows of Papamoa beach was spotted by locals on Friday afternoon.

Samantha Sowter had planned on going for a swim at the Papamoa East beach at about 4.30pm, but upon discovering the shark swimming nearby she understandably decided to skip her swim.

'The shark was only about 10 metres off the shoreline,” said Samantha. 'It seemed pretty calm.”

'It was hanging round a man with his torpedo out so I'm guessing it was hoping to snag a feed when he pulled his line in.”

Samantha says the shark stayed until the fisherman packed up and then it swam away.