Two fishermen, Dan Plunkett and Adam Cloete, have captured amazing video of a great white shark circling and nudging their boat off the coast of Western Australia.
By Andrew Hough
Published: 3:33PM BST 14 Aug 2009
While fishing off Bluff Point, near Geraldton, 263 miles north of Perth, the pair spotted the 16ft shark - bigger than their 15ft boat – approach them.
As it circled, then nudged the boat, the pair calmly took out their camera phones and recorded their incredible encounter.
A nearby groups of divers spear fishing in the 40ft (12m) deep water also had a lucky escape - the pair had warned them the shark was circling after noticing their boats had dive flags up.
Mr Cloete, a 26-year-old mechanic, originally from Zimbabwe, told The West Australian newspaper that his encounter with the "big, beautiful killing machine" was spectacular.
"It circled us a few times and came up and nudged the boat and boy did it make a bang," Mr Cloete said.
"But I didn't feel threatened, it was just being inquisitive."
He said as soon as they realised there were divers in the water they sped over to warn them of the impending danger.
"We sped over and saw a flash of flippers and as soon as we told these two diving guys about the pointer they said 's***, we better call it a day'," he said.
Mr Plunkett, 42, added: "One guy still had coral trout tied to his dive belt, which is like dangling meat in front of a lion," said Mr Plunkett, a local truck salesman.
"The great white could have jumped out and landed in our boat."
One of the divers, Chris Watt, said he dived regularly and it was his second great white encounter in less than a year.
"I've never seen a shark that big," he admitted.
"But you have to expect to bump in to them every now and then, especially if you're shooting fish."
By Andrew Hough
Published: 3:33PM BST 14 Aug 2009
While fishing off Bluff Point, near Geraldton, 263 miles north of Perth, the pair spotted the 16ft shark - bigger than their 15ft boat – approach them.
As it circled, then nudged the boat, the pair calmly took out their camera phones and recorded their incredible encounter.
A nearby groups of divers spear fishing in the 40ft (12m) deep water also had a lucky escape - the pair had warned them the shark was circling after noticing their boats had dive flags up.
Mr Cloete, a 26-year-old mechanic, originally from Zimbabwe, told The West Australian newspaper that his encounter with the "big, beautiful killing machine" was spectacular.
"It circled us a few times and came up and nudged the boat and boy did it make a bang," Mr Cloete said.
"But I didn't feel threatened, it was just being inquisitive."
He said as soon as they realised there were divers in the water they sped over to warn them of the impending danger.
"We sped over and saw a flash of flippers and as soon as we told these two diving guys about the pointer they said 's***, we better call it a day'," he said.
Mr Plunkett, 42, added: "One guy still had coral trout tied to his dive belt, which is like dangling meat in front of a lion," said Mr Plunkett, a local truck salesman.
"The great white could have jumped out and landed in our boat."
One of the divers, Chris Watt, said he dived regularly and it was his second great white encounter in less than a year.
"I've never seen a shark that big," he admitted.
"But you have to expect to bump in to them every now and then, especially if you're shooting fish."
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