Surfers had a wait to use St Clair beach after a warning about a possible shark sighting yesterday afternoon.
Dunedin Police Senior Sergeant Mel Aitken said police were called to the area after reports two surfers had spotted a shark shortly after 3pm.
The shark bell was sounded to alert the few surfers in the water while others waited for police to check the area for any signs.
After 20 minutes, and with no sign to warn beach users not to enter the water, surfers returned to the sea.
Dunedin has the worst shark attack record in New Zealand, with three of the country's 10 fatalities. In the 1960s and early 1970s there were five shark attacks in the Dunedin area, resulting in the deaths of Les Jordan at St Clair in 1964, Bill Black at St Kilda in 1967, and Graham Hitt at Aramoana in 1968.
Last year, Dunedin city councillors voted 9-3 in favour of removing the $38,000 annual funding for the St Clair shark nets in the 2011-12 annual plan.
