While Ryan Slight was taking his surfboard for a spin – there was a curious visitor beneath the waves who had come to join him.

A drone at the Pukehina Beach recorded the encounter.

As Slight paddles his way through the transparent water, the telltale figure of a cruising shark emerges from the sandy fog.

It casually makes its way closer and closer to Slight before continuing on its way.

According to experts, these interactions 'likely happen every day”.

Shark scientist Riley Elliot said most of the time, people don't even realise they are swimming in proximity to the finned predator.

Human sightings of sharks were only becoming more regular because of advances in new technology.

'If you put a drone up at most of our beaches you'd see sharks swimming around swimmers and surfers,” he said.

'Sharks are not man-eaters, sharks do not have any interest in hunting us ... but it is still a potentially dangerous animal, and you should show respect.”

Elliot said the bronze whaler swimming by Ryan Slight was 'about six to seven feet long” and the interaction was 'an amazing example of how sharks just do their own thing”.

It didn't matter what coloured wetsuit you were wearing, which surf board you were on or what you ate for lunch.

The copper coloured fish liked to mind their own business and aren't really fazed by people. They are rather nosy, however.

Bronze whalers were regular visitors to the white water areas of North Island beaches while they 'sun bathed” and conserved their energy.

Coastal habitats were generally nursery grounds, but Elliot said it is still important to note that 'at the end of the day we're in their supermarket”.

Shark Scientist Riley Elliot says shark interactions such as this 'likely happen every day” but most of the time, people don't even realise they are swimming in proximity to the pointy finned predator. Photo: Ryan Slight/Stuff.

'The waves provide a high oxygen environment for them where they can rest throughout the day.”

It would only switch their behaviour if there was lunch or dinner nearby.

So Elliot advised swimmers not to hang out in spots where there was fishing going on.

'When you bring fish into the equation they can become very enthusiastic, unpredictable and potentially dangerous.

'Especially when there is more than one shark present because they can turn into a pack of dogs.”

The last fatal shark attack in the Bay of Plenty was in January 2021, when Hamilton woman Kaelah Marlow died at the Bowentown end of Waihī Beach after being mauled in the ocean by a great white shark.

It was the first fatal shark attack in the region since 1976, when a spear fisherman was killed by a bronze whaler shark at Te Kaha – a small beach town near Ōpōtiki in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

Elliot and his team are currently investigating an uptake in juvenile great white sharks over the last three summers through their work for ‘The Great White Project' which began in December.

They are sharing the data on an app where people can follow sharks tracked with satellite tags.

Climate change is having an impact on where sharks pop up, so the situation is always changing.

Bronze whalers were regularly occupiers of the whitewater area of North Island beaches while they 'sun bathed” and conserved their energy. Photo: Kendall Clements/Auckland University

If people notice a shark nearby, the best thing to do is return to shore and 'take a break”.

Some species may appear less harmful than others, but Elliot cautioned people to think again and exit the water calmly and respectfully for a couple of hours.

'The best rule of thumb is just to move out of the water. It's their home, it's their environment.”

Te Aorewa Rolleston/Stuff