Aucklanders in Waiake Beach were treated to a spectacular sight on Friday evening as bioluminescence turned the waves a stunning neon blue.
Auckland resident Ruggiero Lovreglio captured incredible photographs, which showed the water turning a glowing blue.
Bioluminescence - the illumination of thousands of tiny marine organisms - is a chemical reaction that occurs when algae or phytoplankton are agitated or disturbed by a splash or a wave.
Lovreglio told Newshub he was out taking photos of the Milky Way with a student just after 9pm when he spotted something that "didn't look normal".
Once he captured the photo and saw the result on his computer it blew him away.
"We were just taking pictures and we were looking at the result of the picture and just said, 'Whoa,'" he said.
"It was just cool to watch a bit because it was a really intense luminosity, so it was possible to see it with the naked eye and it was just wow to be there."
Lovreglio said he enjoys taking pictures of the Milky Way but had never been treated to bioluminescence before.
"It looked like something from out of a movie. I heard that it was possible to see them in New Zealand, somewhere else in the South Island, but I didn't expect to see something like this in Auckland," Lovreglio told Newshub.
"I was not aware of it, so it was a surprise and then we spent more than an hour there just because it was beautiful, no matter how cold it was, it was just beautiful."
With Auckland in store for more fine weather over the coming days, Lovreglio urges locals to walk their local beaches as they might see another spectacular sight.
"I hope that everyone will spend some time walking on the beach because probably tonight and tomorrow night, it's going to still be nice weather and we will probably have the possibility to spot more of this phenomenon on our beaches," he told Newshub.
"I hope many, many more people will take pictures and put it on social media because it's something new for me and it was something that was really worth it.
"I also hope kids will experience this because if it is shocking for a grown-up man like me, I can't imagine the reaction of a teenager or young children to see something so amazing."
