A Kerikeri man has described his hour long encounter with a massive great white shark.
Fisherman Reece Samuels was out with his father and nephew on Sunday, off the Cavalli Islands when his boat was approached by a gigantic shark.
The shark came right up to the boat, nudging the engine with its snout.
Samuel's told The Project on Tuesday he thinks the animal was just curious.
- Amazing footage of a jumping Mako shark off the coast of Hahei
- Northland man attacked by shark escaped by stabbing it
"I think it was inquisitive about the white of the engine. It was coming right out of the water, so we could see her and she could see us," he said.
"I think she was more curious to see what we were doing and what was inside the boat," he told The Project.
When asked whether he thought the shark could have been looking for a date, Samuels laughed.
"The old man kept asking me, how do you know it was a female? And it just moved like female sharks I've dived with in the past," he explained.
"But I wasn't too keen to jump in and lift up its skirt!" said Samuels through laughter.
Samuels said he could tell the shark was roughly 14 or 15 feet long, as his boat is 20 feet long.
But the size of the shark didn't stop him asking his dad if he could jump in and get some better footage.
"I asked him, and he told me he didn't feel like burying his son in the urupa this weekend, so that was that," said Samuels.
Watch the full interview above.
Newshub.
