Main Beach Gold Coast: Woman’s body found washed up on busy tourist beach as cops speculate she had been dead for several hours

A woman was found dead after her body washed up on a popular beach, prompting an investigation by police.

Emergency services were called to The Spit on the northernmost section of Main Beach on the Gold Coast after reports of a body washed ashore at around 9am on Tuesday.

A Queensland Police spokesperson said the woman, whose age has not yet been determined, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Initial investigations indicate that she had been dead for several hours before being washed ashore and that the incident is not considered suspicious.

Gold Coast chief lifeguard Chris Maynard believes the woman had gone swimming earlier in the day.

“It looks like he must have gone into the water early in the morning,” he told 7News.

“It is a tragedy that again someone has drowned in this area.”

Investigations into the death are ongoing.

It comes just five days after another 66-year-old man drowned while swimming at Mermaid Beach, about 13 kilometers to the south.