By Catherine Naylor
Police have found two bodies at Little Bay after a member of the public found personal items on the beach with their owners nowhere in sight, and reported it to police.
The bodies are yet to be identified due to injuries, but were found on rocks. One is yet to be recovered, with efforts from Marine Area Command and Polair called off this evening due to poor light. Police said the second body would be recovered tomorrow. The victims are believed to be rock fishermen.
Rescuers on the rocks at Little Bay.Credit: Nine News
Police said they arrived at Little Bay Beach about 11.10am after receiving a call from a member of the public, who had found unattended belongings on the beach.
Officers from the Eastern Beaches Police Area Command then found a number of items on rocks, and the first body nearby. They found the second body about 1.40pm.
Police said it is believed misadventure is to blame for the deaths.
It is the latest fatal incident at Little Bay. Swimmer Simon Nellist was taken by a shark while swimming across the bay in February 2022, just weeks after a father and his 10-year-old son drowned while rock fishing near the eastern suburbs beach.
Emergency services search the rocks at Little Bay on Sunday.Credit: Nine News
Nellist, a 35-year-old British diving instructor who lived in Wolli Creek, was bitten by what authorities believe was a great white shark measuring at least three metres long, in front of horrified onlookers. It was the first fatal shark attack in Sydney in 60 years.
On January 31, 2022, Payam Masoumi, 41, and his son Mahan, 10, died at Little Bay when a large wave took them by surprise while they were rock fishing on a platform and swept them into the ocean.
Little Bay is the most dangerous place in Australia for rock fishing, with six deaths recorded at the spot between 2001 and 2023.
Police are also still searching for a 23-year-old man who went missing on Lake Macquarie on Saturday evening when the boat in which he was travelling capsized.
The small boat overturned at Swansea about 7.50pm. A 20-year-old man and two 23-year-old men were rescued from the water, but the fourth man remains missing.
Marine Area Command, PolAir, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and Fire and Rescue NSW began searching for the man on Saturday night but had to postpone their efforts due to poor light, and resume them this morning.
Meanwhile, police believe they have found the owner of a diver’s buoy that was spotted floating unattended at Balgowlah Heights on Sunday morning.
The device is usually used to mark the location of a diver or spear fisherman, but neither were found near the orange buoy at Grotto Point Reserve, sparking concern for the welfare of its owner.
But on Sunday night, after a public appeal for information, police said they appeared to have found the owner safe and well.
Anyone with information about the Little Bay deaths or the missing man at Swansea should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.