Monster great white shark just metres from world's top women surfers in waters off Australian beach during Roxy Pro competition as shark numbers rise



Monster shark caught metres from women pro surfers off Australian beach



Shark catchers kill 3.4m great white endangering female world champions

Australia's Stephanie Gilmore and US surfer Lakey Peterson under threat

102 giant sharks caught off popular Queensland beaches so far this year



Huge hammerhead size of a car caught off nearby beach just last month

Fisheries shark manager says beaches need netting to protect swimmers



By Candace Sutton

A monster great white shark has been caught and killed in waters just metres from where some of the world's top women surfers competed in an international professional surfing competition off an Australian beach.



Eight women surfing champions including Australian Stephanie Gilmore, Americans Lakey Peterson and Courtney Conlogue, and Hawaiians Carissa Moore and Malia Manuel were competing in clear, pristine waters off a surfing point break called Snapper Rocks on Wednesday morning.



One of the lifeguards on jetskis who patrol the waters for sharks during the competition spotted the shark, which was also reported by a swimmer.

Shark alarm: Hawaiian surfer Carissa Moore was one of eight female professional surfers off Snapper Rocks in Queensland where lifesavers spotted a great white shark which was later caught and killed

Monster: the 3.4m shark, a great white like the shark pictured (above) was lurking in waters off the spot where a professional surfing competition is underway, with champions from around the world

World champion surfer Kelly Slater competes on the Snapper Rocks surf break off Greenmount Beach this week, where a giant great white shark was caught and killed by fisheries officers

The competition finished early and the women surfers left the water because the quality of the waves was declining, Will Hayden-Smith of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) told MailOnline.

The ASP is staging a 12-day surfing competition in the Roxy Pro and Mens Quiksilver Pro, with professional surfers including US champion Kelly Slater and Australian triple world champion Mick Fanning.



Queensland Fisheries officers later snared the 3.4m great white on a drum line 300 metres off Snapper Rocks, on Queensland's Gold Coast, and killed it with a spike through its brain.



Fisheries Shark Control Program manager Jeff Krause described the great white as 'a pretty big shark' with 'the potential for something nasty' for the board riders in the water for the Roxy Pro competition.

Lives in danger: Shark control manager Jeff Krause said the women board riders, including Australian Stephanie Gilmore (above, surfing on the morning the shark was found) were in danger from the 3.4m shark

Record numbers: around 80 sharks of different varieties including great whites (above) have been caught off the coast of Queensland in the last two months

Metres away: US surfer Lakey Peterson (pictured, above, surfing on Wednesday) and the other board riders were oblivious to the fact a great white shark was in the waters off Coolangatta

'The successful removal of this dangerous shark from a popular swimming beach was particularly important given the Quiksilver Pro surfing competition currently underway,' he said.

The ASP said the women surfers were 'aware of the risks' of competing in the ocean off Snapper Rocks, which is an internationally renowned surf break.



The shark is the biggest great white to be caught off the Gold Coast tourist strip in more than seven years.

Caught in the net: early last year, a tiger shark like the shark pictured (above), but measuring almost five metres long and weighing more than 500kg was caught by a deckhand off Coolum Beach Cut short: Sally Fitzgibbson competing (above) in the Roxy Pro quarterfinals on Wednesday before teh competition was called off as the wave quality declined and, later, a large shark was discovered offshore Swimmers at risk: Crowds line the beach to watch surfer Joel Parkinson compete in the Quiksilver Pro in a 12-day tournament where professional surfers 'know the risks' of shark attack Shark kill controversy: the Australian public (pictured, above, at the Quiksilver Pro surf classic this week) are divided over whether to conserve shark populations or destroy killers after ten shark deaths in three years The great white is the latest in a record 80 plus sharks which have been caught by Queensland Government shark hunters off the coast in the last two months alone.

One was a whopping 3.8m great hammerhead caught last month at Miami Beach, 18km north of Snapper Rocks, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported. The shark was slightly longer than a small car like the Nissan Micra, which measures 3.78m. Early last year, a giant tiger shark almost five metres long and weighing more than 500kg was caught by a deckhand off Coolum Beach, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. This week, a 4.85m tiger shark as caught off Townsville.

Infested waters: US surfer Courtney Conlogue braves the surf in southern Queensland, where unusual shark numbers have been recorded off the coast

Hammerhead: this species of hammerhead shark was caught in net off Queensland last month a giant 3.8m great hammerhead size of a small car was caught off Miami Beach

Food for predators: Lifeguards at Greenmount Beach where Hawaiian surfer Malia Manuel competed (above) on Wednesday say the giant shark is not surprising because of the 'beautiful, clear water and a lot of fish and a lot of bait around, so you expect to see large predatory fish every now and then'

The pregnant female was believed have stalked board riders and spooked surfers for weeks before it was caught, destroyed, measured and had its stomach contents examined, revealing several baby sharks.



Mr Krause this week reaffirmed the need for drum lines, the baited hooks attached by wire to a buoy which are used by fisheries inspectors to lure sharks, and for netting to prevent shark attacks on swimmers.



He said samples of the great white were taken for research before it was killed and disposed of at sea.

'The shark was brain spiked. It's quick and it's the most humane way to kill a fish,' he told the MailOn;ine



Controversy over whether to destroy killer sharks has divided Australians, since Western Australia introduced a shark cull policy, following the deaths of seven swimmers off the Western Australian coastline between 2010 and 2013.



The policy has drawn global opposition from conservationists and scientists, and public demonstrations around Australia.

Marine activists such as Sea Shepherd have described drumlines as 'cruel, barbaric and unsafe' for whales and dolphins as well as 'endangered' sharks.