The kayaker presumed to be in trouble off Tahunanui Beach has been located and has returned to shore.
Police received a call from a member of the public around 11.30am, reporting that a person in a white kayak was in trouble out on the water.
However, Police SAR incident controller Malcolm York says the kayaker was not in any danger and did not need assistance
“From all the information we have and from what we have seen out on the water I believe she is our target, the timing works out perfectly, what she was wearing works out really well and the fact that she’d fallen in the water a couple of times with her surfing.
“She was never in trouble, in fact, our staff watching her said she was having a great time out there surfing the waves and was totally proficient.”
Whilst today was a false alarm, Malcolm says it was fantastic that someone called it in.
“There was no issue but it was great that a member of the public called in it because if it was a kid in a kayak who did get in trouble it was totally the right thing to do so full marks to them and we had a good response from all our volunteers so it was a success.”
Surf Rescue, Coastguard and the Harbourmaster Pilot vessel were out on the water searching while an Air New Zealand plane and a private helicopter did an aerial sweep of the area.
