Qld; Qlders flock to the beach to beat the heat =2

AAP General News (Australia)
12-26-2000
Qld; Qlders flock to the beach to beat the heat =2

Surf Lifesaving Queensland spokesman GEORGE HILL says numbers at south-east Queensland
beaches are down on last year, due to direct onshore easterlies blowing out the surf and
making conditions uncomfortable for beachgoers.

The easterlies have also brought bluebottles to Stradbroke Island's popular Cylinder Beach.

In north Queensland, a 23-year-old man spent Christmas morning in hospital after a
shark bit him on the hand while he was scuba diving off Flinders Cay, north-east of Townsville
on Sunday afternoon.

He has been discharged from Townsville General Hospital and was not seriously injured.

There was an unconfirmed shark sighting at Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast, and surf
lifesavers were forced to clear the beach until a check found no evidence of sharks.

AAP rad/art/klw

KEYWORD: BEACHES 2 BRISBANE (REOPENS)

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