Mysterious submarine spotted off Rainbow Beach

The vessel was spotted by fishermen off the Cooloola Coast on Wednesday morning and was live-streamed on Facebook, triggering the community’s excitement and curiosity.

A mysterious submarine spotted off the coast of Rainbow Beach and captured on a Facebook live-stream on Wednesday morning has sparked plenty of excitement and curiosity.

The submarine was spotted by owner and operator of Double Island Point Fishing Charters, Greg Pearce, who live-streamed the sighting on Facebook while fishing off Rainbow Beach.

“We were just starting to fish, and we saw a boat coming towards us,” he said.

“No one thought it was a submarine, but as it got closer we realised that’s what it was.”

The mysterious submarine was spotted by fishermen off the coast of Rainbow Beach on Wednesday morning. Photo: Greg Pearce.

Mr Pearce also said he saw a few people visible moving around on the submarine’s deck, though it was not clear what they were doing.

The video quickly captured the attention of the wider community with more than 200 comments.

“That’s unbelievable! Who would have thought,” wrote Kate Martin.

Former Royal Australian Navy stoker and submariner Ashlee Dart confirmed the submarine was one of six HMAS Collins, a diesel-electric powered submarine from Perth.

Another HMAS Collins was also spotted while docked at Pinkenba in Brisbane and later in Moreton Bay on Thursday, where the Australian Defence Department told the Courier Mail the submarine was making a routine port visit, after visiting Cairns from June 23-29.

The Gympie Times has also reached out to the Department for comment.