What was supposed to be a gentle splash around in the shallows suddenly turned into a much scarier prospect when holiday-makers came face to face with a shark in New Zealand on Saturday . Papamoa Beach , a popular Bay of Plenty destination , was an idyllic haven for swimmers until a shark came into the shore , swimming around in only a few feet of water . Onlookers initially got out of the sea sharpish , but soon returned to take photographs and videos of the 2.5 metre bronze whaler as it eventually swam away . Scroll down for video . Once the the 2.5 metre bronze whaler appeared soon everyone was on the beach . Onlookers soon had their mobile phones out to take videos and photographs . 'Look at it , it 's huge , ' shouted one boy from the shore . All fears of an attack soon disappeared as children could be heard chatting and laughing happily on the shore as the fish swam around . 'Look at it , it 's huge , ' shouted a boy from the shore . But before long the shark had seen enough and turned back out to sea . The New Zealand Herald reports that shark sightings have become commonplace around the New Zealand coastline this summer , including close encounters with great white sharks in Auckland . Children could be heard chatting and laughing happily on the shore as the fish swam around . Two shark attacks left a surfer and fisherman with serious injuries . In February , a surfer was mauled by a shark off the Southland coast . Headlines were made around the world in December , when a junior Southland doctor ended up stitching up his own wound after being attacked by a shark while fishing near Cosy Nook , off the south coast . The shark soon had enough of all the attention and swam back out to sea . In the last fatal shark attack in New Zealand waters , Auckland film-maker Adam Strange , 47 , was killed at Muriwai on Auckland 's west coast in February 2013 .
Paddlers get a fright when large shark swims into the shallows . Papamoa Beach is a popular Bay of Plenty destination in New Zealand . Holiday-makers were soon running for cover out of the sea . But before long they were back on the shore taking photographs of it . The last fatal shark attack in New Zealand waters was in 2013 .