At around 5pm on March 27, a hammerhead shark found its way into the popular swimming venue and quickly cleared the water.

Forster resident James Azzi was checking the surf with a friend at the break wall when he heard the commotion and came over to shoot the above footage.

"I would've thought it was about 1.2 metres if I had to guess," he said.

"There was no one in the pool, everyone had gotten out."

Mr Azzi said the shark was clearly in a state of distress after finding itself in the semi-enclosed area but everyone was excited to see the creature up close.

He watched the shark for around five minutes before going to check the surf.

When he returned it was still there.

By that time a number of teenagers had paddled out on surfboards in an effort to drive the shark back into the harbour, but he left before they had any success.

Like a lot of people, Mr Azzi was unaware the net surrounding the rock pool was not designed to stop sharks.

In a press release about the funding recently allocated to annually upgrade the net, MidCoast Council stated:

"The net, which separates the swimming area from the main channel, is not shark-proof but has buoys located every 85 centimetres to provide an extra barrier to swimmers who may be caught out by the changing conditions."

According to National Geographic, most hammerhead species aren't considered a danger to humans, however, the great hammerhead - which is the largest and most aggressive species - can pose a risk, but few attacks have been recorded. 

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