File photo - Shane Chalker photographed water spouts off Forster in April 2015.
Rodney Thurtell, 50, was munching on a piece of barbecued chicken for breakfast and gazing out to sea from an elevated position near the surf life saving club when he noted a dark, thin line in the clouds, which stretched all the way to the surface of the ocean.
"I could see the water moving in the sea where it touched down," Rodney told the Guardian.
"I saw another bloke and he said 'what's that', and I said 'that's a water spout' and he agreed that's exactly what it was."
