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An Auckland man had the encounter of a lifetime when a 5m-long creature swam around and under his boat, before knocking it and swimming off.

Darren Vernon told the Herald he was fishing on a jet ski in Northland’s Doubtless Bay on Christmas Eve when he saw a whale shark move in the water ahead of him.

“It was cruising along so slowly and it came closer and closer and swam around my jet ski a couple of times,” he said.

“I got the camera out, it swam away and came back a few moments later. It came right up to my jet ski, bumped into it, carried on going around the front and then swam off.”

A whale shark was seen by Daz Vernon from Auckland off the Northland Coast. Photo / Supplied

He estimated the encounter lasted about five minutes.

Vernon said that at one point, he was concerned the creature might bump him off the jet ski, but he never felt scared.

“I know whale sharks are friendly and people swim with them in the Philippines and Western Australia,” he said.

“The reaction when I told everyone was they couldn’t believe I saw a whale shark in New Zealand waters. I’m not sure if they are that common to be down here because normally they are in the tropics.”

A whale shark visited by Daz Vernon from Auckland off the Northland Coast while fishing from his jet ski. Photo / Supplied

Over the past few years, sightings of these incredible sea creatures have become more common in New Zealand waters.

During a Coromandel fishing expedition in February last year, a group of boaties encountered a whale shark, “the size of a boat”.

“It was like seeing a UFO,” Scott Mitchell said of the moment he saw a whale shark under the vessel.

“I was looking at it just going, ‘Am I really seeing that? Is that for real?’”

Marine scientist Clinton Duffy said whale sharks were traditionally docile creatures.

“They are very curious, they won’t eat you.

“They will quite regularly approach boats and rub on them, and they can even approach divers.”

Duffy said whale sharks are a tropical species and rare in New Zealand waters.

David Williams is an Auckland-based multimedia journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.