SYDNEY, Australia — HE is missing in the cold waters off Collaroy on Sydney's northern beaches but his family is not giving up hope spear fisherman Brian Lam will be found alive. The 31-year-old experienced dive instructor wore a bright yellow wetsuit, snorkel mask, weight belt and spear gun to go out with three mates off Fisherman's Beach. He was last seen at 11.30am (AEST) yesterday but by last night only his spear gun and dive buoy with a brace of fish and wobbegong attached were found. Family and friends of Mr Lam, a banker from Blakehurst, converged on the beach armed with binoculars and prayers that he hadn't been taken by a shark, trapped in an underwater cave or washed out to sea. His girlfriend Wendy Yan pleaded for any information that could help find him. "If anyone has seen anything, or knows anything that will help us find him, please let us know,," she said. "He was close to shore, only 50m out, and it wasn't a really big dive so we're all very surprised by what's happened." His friend Raymond Yan said Mr Lam, chairman of the Ocean Buddy Dive Club, was too experienced to make silly mistakes or errors. "I'm very confident that he knows his way around," Mr Yan said. "He goes diving every weekend so it's not like he hadn't done it for a while and was rusty, he knows his safety procedures very well. We hope it wasn't a shark but don't want to speculate." Sharks are regularly seen at the spot and an ambulance service spokesperson said there were reports of a large shark sighting in the area. Assistant scuba instructor Mr Lam, who was originally from Hong Kong, and his friends launched themselves into the water off the rock edge. He placed his dive marker about 50m away, as he does most weekends. | 
