Shark sightings at three beaches in the Eurobodalla on Saturday forced swimmers and surfers from the water.
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About 100 swimmers were evacuated from Shelly Beach, near Moruya, when two three-metre hammerhead sharks were spotted in the river mouth at about 11am.
About an hour later, a jetski crew spotted more hammerhead sharks off Broulee and Tomakin.
This was confirmed when the Westpac rescue helicopter flew over Broulee and sighted a three-metre predator about 500 metres south of the flags at south Broulee beach.
Surf lifesavers cleared the water near the sighting, and continued to check its movements throughout the afternoon.
Swimmers were also evacuated from the water at Mollymook Beach when a shark, believed to be a brown or a sandbar shark, was spotted on Sunday afternoon.
Mollymook Surf Club members drove the shark out to sea with a jetski, but they lost sight of it. It was spotted later at the northern end of the beach.
Far South Coast Surf Life Saving assistant director Andrew Edmunds was patrolling Broulee Beach as the incidents unfolded.
He said large numbers of fish were attracting sharks to beaches.
“If you assess the information and see it as posing a risk, then we will clear the beach. This did happen at Moruya and at Broulee where there were surfers.”
At Broulee, he said the shark was about 500m south of the flags, which didn’t pose a threat to swimmers between the flags, only a group of surfers.
“We would have cleared the beach if the shark seemed to be getting closer.
“You obviously don’t want to cause a panic but at the same time you obviously don’t want to keep people in the water and put them at risk too.”
He said hammerheads were only generally dangerous in large numbers, and that the species was scared of humans.
“To be honest, they’re nothing to worry about. You’ve got more of a chance of being stung by a blue bottle than you do of being attacked by a shark. The most danger is in a rip, when people panic and find themselves in trouble.”
Sharks weren’t the only threat at beaches on the weekend, as four people at Broulee Beach were treated for blue bottle stings within about 10 minutes.
A 16-year-old boy was taken to hospital after he was stung on the arm by a blue bottle and was suffering from chest pains.
A woman in her 20s was stung around her neck and two children - a 10-year-old boy and a six-year-old boy - were stung on their arms.
Later in the day, another man in his 20s was also stung.
Mr Edmunds said there was a lesson to be learnt following the incidents on Saturday - swim at patrolled beaches.
