A 23-year-old international student is still missing after he and a fellow student were swept off rocks into the sea at Nobby's beach in Newcastle on Sunday.
The police said the duo was at a rock face when a wave knocked them into the water last night.
One man was rescued by people on the beach but the other couldn’t be found despite the search stretching into the second day.
The search resumed on Monday morning after emergency services had to call off the search operation on Sunday night due to bad weather with swells as high as five meters hitting the coast.
Nine Network reports that crews put dye in the water to check where the current might have taken the missing man who witnesses said was taking photos when he was hit by a wave along with his friend.
Chirag Modi, a witness told Seven Network that after the wave struck, only the man’s arms were visible.
“All of a sudden a big massive wavecame.. I only saw hisarms.. that’s it, because the way the wave was coming, it was pretty high,” Mr Modi told 7 News.
Water police, surf lifesavers and the Wespac helicopter were involved in the search.
Chief Inspector Trevor Shields, said rough seas were hampering the search effort. But the was still hopeful the student would be found.
"It's difficult conditions for them out there, but the search will continue while they think there's an opportunity to locate the man," the ABC quoted him as saying.
"Certainly the scale of that will change, however, we'll keep pursuing it while we think there's going to be a result," he said.
