Two Perth fishermen have had a frightening encounter with six great white sharks off Perth’s northern coast.
The duo were crayfishing near Ocean Reef Marina on Sunday when the predators stalked their boat, chasing old bait from their pots.
The sharks were just centimetres from the small white vessel as it idled about five kilometres off the coast about midday.
Catching the frightening moment on camera as they came a little too close for comfort, one of the fishermen exclaimed “Have a go at this one!”.
“Good spot to dive,” he then sarcastically remarked.
Seemingly in no rush to escape the nerve-wracking ordeal, the fisherman slowly counted and filmed each shark as they swam closer.
At one point, one shark swims across the top of another.
On Sunday, a school of 2.5-metre sharks were spotted by a SLS Westpac helicopter patrol circling 100 metres offshore near Rockingham’s Point Peron.
It came after a shark was sighted just a metre from dead seal beach at Carnac Island on Saturday.
Seven sharks were sighted off Rottnest Island across the weekend, including a four-metre predator spotted 300 metres from shore at Pinky Beach on Sunday and three hammerheads just off Fairbridge Bluff Beach.
Further south in WA’s regional town of Esperance, a member of the public reported a five-metre great white shark about midday on Sunday about 50 metres offshore at Bandy Creek Boat Harbour.
A shark advice had been issued for water users in the coastal town on Sunday after a technical fault affected the land-based shark warning system at West Beach.
Check www.sharksmart.com.au/news for updates to this alert and to view other warnings.
If you see a shark, report it to Water Police on 9442 8600.