A major junior surfing competition has gone ahead without incident on the NSW north coast, despite a shark sighting and two attacks in two days.
Hundreds of surfers competed in The Skullcandy Oz Grom Open on Saturday at Lennox Head after an early morning search gave the all-clear.
Yet fears of a third attack were reinforced when a news helicopter spotted a four-metre shark lurking near surfers at Byron Bay, about 20km north.
The chopper tried to scare the shark off by hovering low before surf lifesavers on jet-skis tracked it out beyond the Byron Bay Lighthouse at around 3pm.
The sighting comes two days after bodyboarder Matthew Lee was nearly killed off nearby Ballina when a shark, believed to be a great white, tore into his legs.
The 32-year-old remains in a Gold Coast Hospital.
A second attack was reported on Friday after a shark knocked a surfer from his board at Lennox Head.
The Oz Grom Open, one of the biggest events on the junior surfing calendar, is expected to go ahead as planned on Sunday.
Air and sea patrols will continue to watch out for sharks.
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