Rainbow's patrolled beach 'safe'

REVELATIONS a 4.5m tiger shark was caught at Rainbow Beach while hundreds of Christmas tourists were swimming nearby.

Picture: Renee Pilcher

AS the news of yet another shark attack hits the papers this summer, the revelation that a 4.5m tiger shark caught at Rainbow Beach while hundreds of Christmas tourists were swimming nearby would concern many.

But Queensland Shark Control manager Tony Ham said that Rainbow's patrolled beach would be the safest place to swim on the Cooloola Coast.

Mr Ham confirmed yesterday the monster female shark with 50 pups inside had been caught on a drum line on December 27, smack bang in the middle of Rainbow's busy tourism season.

The shark control manager said the large female would have weighed around 370kg and was one of the biggest he had heard of caught around the Sunshine Coast.

“We see bigger tigers in northern waters but this is one of the biggest caught near Rainbow,” Mr Ham said.

There is no official record of a shark attack at Rainbow Beach, but Mr Ham warned people to be vigilant while swimming especially around Inskip Point and in Tin Can Bay.

“People should always bath at patrolled beaches they are the safest place to swim.

“I would be reluctant to swim in Tin Can Bay around the creeks and near Inskip Point.”

He said that the area between Inskip Point and Fraser Island was a 'highway for fish' and there would be plenty of sharks using it to move in and out of Tin Can Bay.

“Tin Can Bay and Hervey Bay have a large population of Bull sharks.

“I urge people to take extreme caution when swimming in these areas.

“I would be very, very careful swimming in there.”

Some of the precautionary measures Mr Ham recommends to bathers are to never swim at dawn or dusk or in murky water.

Mr Ham said despite accounts of there being a lot more sharks around his records only indicated a slight increase in numbers.

“Sharks are slow breeders.”

He said that even though a shark with 50 pups like the one caught at Rainbow Beach was fairly normal, the pups have a low survival rate.

“The increase was more likely just an increase in shark activity.”

Mr Ham says fresh water moving downstream after recent heavy rains had sharks moving around a lot more.

“The fresh water flushes out the creeks and rivers and stirs up the bait fish which in turn gets the sharks more active,” he said.

Originally published as Rainbow's patrolled beach 'safe'