A man's fully-clothed body has been removed from Wellington Harbour off Queens Wharf.

Police have identified a man whose fully clothed body has been removed from Wellington Harbour.

They said the man's body was found floating in the harbour on Sunday morning.

It was taken to Wellington Hospital for identification. Police confirmed on Sunday evening they knew who the man was, and were in the process of informing his next of kin.

MAARTEN HOLL/ FAIRFAX NZ Police cordoned off Queens Wharf near Wagamama restaurant on Sunday morning, after the discovery of Finbarr Clabby's body.

He would not be named until then.

An autopsy was expected to begin on Monday.

Police were alerted to the body at 10.40am on Sunday, after it was seen by members of the public at Queens Wharf.

TALIA SHADWELL/FAIRFAX NZ The body of a man has been found in the water off Queens Wharf in the Wellington harbour.

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A Wellington police district command centre spokesman said authorities were investigating when and how the man had ended up in the water.

The crime squad were overseeing the case and while the death did not immediately appear suspicious, they would be investigating whether there was any evidence of foul play, the spokesman said.

"It's still at a fairly early stage."

Police and the fire brigade earlier on Sunday cordoned off an upper section of Queens Wharf near the maritime police barracks, opposite the railway station.

They briefly brought what appeared to be a body ashore on to the section of the wharf opposite Mojo cafe, as crowds of onlookers gathered around the cordon's edge.

Emma Pigou, who works at Wagamama cafe inside the police cordon, arrived at work about 11am as ambulance staff were gathering around the body onshore.

She described him as fully clothed, with black hair, wearing sneakers.

"He was wearing blue jeans and a red fleece jersey with a bit of black on it."

Pigou said spectators and participants from the Wellington Marathon passing by just metres from the cordon stopped to join the onlookers.

"There were a lot of people about and they were coming into the restaurant and wanting to sit close to the window to see, but we closed the curtains out of respect for the man's body and because the police asked us to."

Later, a body bag was visible from shore, though the body itself was concealed from the dozens of onlookers at the water's edge. Shortly afterward it was loaded onto a dinghy and taken aboard the Lady Elizabeth IV police launch, where a forensic photographer was waiting.

One policeman was seen fishing a Nike branded sports shoe out of the water.