"Many small sharks are swarming around the place of [the plane's fragment] discovery," the rescuer was quoted as saying by DetikCom news website.
The rescue team's head also added that the fragment is located at a depth of 34 meters (112 feet) and 1,5 kilometers (0,9 miles) away from the aircraft's tail.
Earlier the same day, it was reported that the signal from the black boxes of the AirAsia plane had been detected, originating from a spot about 300 meters (985 feet) away from the plane’s tail.
AirAsia flight QZ8501, flying to Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia, lost contact with air traffic control on December 28. There were 162 passengers and crew on board the aircraft.
So far, 40 bodies have been recovered and 24 have been identified, according to the head of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, Bambang Soelistyo.
On the request of Indonesia, Russian divers are taking part in the search operation.