Untitled-in-sydney

HUNDREDS of swimmers were sent scrambling out of the water at North Steyne Beach yesterday when a shark was sighted about 200m from the shoreline.

The shark alarm sounded about 1pm after a local surfer spotted the shark, believed to be about 6ft. It was seen about 200m from the shore near the stormwater pipe on North Steyne Beach.

It was the second time the alarm has been sounded this season.

Manly Council beach supervisor Lee Burnes confirmed the sighting.

"A couple of surfers saw the shark and let the lifeguards know," he said. "We rang the alarm and everyone was quite well behaved. A guard on a jet ski also saw the shark patrolling the beach after the alarm was sounded. Everyone was allowed back in the water after about 30 minutes when we got the all-clear."

Surfer Yann Leclair said he got out of the water straightaway.

"I went to the aquarium yesterday and I have seen how scary those sharks are," he said.

Michael Brown, of Surfwatch, said there had been more spottings than ever this summer. Last month they spotted a plump 3m-great white shark about 3km off Avalon.

Yesterday there were a couple of hammerheads seen off North Head in a feeding frenzy. Mr Brown said it could have been a hammerhead spotted at Manly as they skim the surface while other sharks tend to swim further below. "I've seen bull sharks and bronze whalers out feeding where they won't get hassled by boats," he said. "There were a couple of bull sharks in a feeding frenzy off Bull Head yesterday, which sounds dramatic.

"But there are thousands of baitfish out there too, big stuff like yellowtail, and now they're coming in close to shore to feed, and sharks will follow and even dolphins.

"It can be a big problem. This year I have seen more sharks in the water than I have ever seen before and I've been monitoring these things for 11 years.

"This year there are heaps and heaps of sharks out there."