Beachgoers flee as deadly brown snake emerges from sea

Never mind sharks, swimmers at a beach in NSW, Australia, got a fright when a deadly brown snake emerged from the ocean.

Beachgoers were forced to flee the beach as the highly poisonous reptile slithered out of the surf at One Mile Beach.

Lifeguards blew the warning whistle when they spotted the 1.5-metre snake come ashore between the swimming flags at the beach in Forster.

Speaking to ABC News, Cape Hawke Surf Lifesaving Club president Paul Scott said: "It's odd to see a snake which is a land-dwelling creature at the beach.

"You see the odd sea snake in the water, but a brown snake is quite unusual. You see snakes around the beach but not in the water

"No lives were lost or in danger."

He also joked: "It was doing the right thing and swimming between the flags."

Beachgoer Olivia Moffatt hung around long enough to take this picture of the snake.

Post by The Great Lakes Advocate.

According to the Australian Daily Telegraph, she told the Great Lakes Advocate: "Tourists and locals fled from the water after the whistles were blown.

"At first people were concerned it may have been a shark, only to discover a 1.5m brown snake.

"Raising its head, it headed for shade towards the lifeguard trailer and happily sat there until again moving up along the beach to the bush.

"On the way, as we were leaving, the snake began heading back down towards the sea at a quicker pace."

Brown snakes, which can grow up to 2.4 metres, are known as one of the world's deadliest species of snake. They are sometimes found in the sand dunes along the NSW coast looking for prey.