HUNDREDS of sharks have been spotted off the Sunshine Coast north of Noosa, with some coming within 10m of the shore.
The Sunshine Coast Rescue helicopter night crew said they spotted “hundreds” of sharks between Double Island Point and Teerwah on their return from a job at Fraser Island at about 8am.
“Within that 70km stretch they saw literally hundreds of sharks,” air crew officer Rick Harvey said.
The crew said there were more than 40 sharks in a 100m-long school at Teewah, 10km north of Noosa’s main beach, some of which were 5m long and believed to be tiger sharks.
“They spent about 10 minutes in the area just watching the large amount of sharks just sitting off, then getting in amongst the fish and dividing them and having a real good feed,” Mr Harvey said.
“The whole school was hovering about 20-50m offshore and at one stage one of the large sharks was in the shallows about 10m off shore.”
But the shark alert hasn't put off beachgoers, with hundreds on Noosa's main beach today.
While the rescue crews regularly sport sharks along that stretch of coast, they had never seen so many in such a short distance.
“Those two guys have been working here for a long time, one of them more than 10 years, and he’s never seen so many before,” Mr Harvey said.
The crew saw fisherman along the secluded stretch, close to where the shark entered the shallows.
The sharks were believed to be chasing a school of tuna.
The lifeguard control was notified as a precaution.