Picnickers at an Auckland beach are the latest to freak out at the sight of a shark, swimming close to the shore

A couple at Big Manly Beach on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula were startled to see an animal roughly eight feet long, so close in.

It's the latest in a number of sightings along the North Island coast this summer.

Earlier this week an Auckland man suffered minor injuries when a shark bit his arm at Bay of Plenty's Papamoa Beach.

The Department of Conservation has urged people to be cautious when they're out swimming over the long weekend.