The north Queensland town of Karumba is home to saltwater crocs, brolgas and black swans and, more recently, hundreds of swimming rats.

A sea of rodents has been washing up dead on the beach in recent days, with others scurrying across the boat ramps into garden sheds and homes.

Tunney said “the sand island” that appears at low tide on the Karumba port had been blanketed in the native long-haired rats.

Tina Hutchinson owns a fishing company in Karumba and says the last thing her business needs is rats in the river or scampering through her boats.

After a heavy wet season, the rat plague has affected a multitude of towns in outback Queensland including Richmond, Cloncurry and Julia Creek.

Mick Quirk, the manager of environment and sustainability policy at Canegrowers, said farmers always struggle to get rats under control but 2023 has been a particularly bad year.

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