Two fishermen were fishing off Durras, New South Wales, when the shark approached the boat, fisherman and blogger Trapman Bermagui said on his Facebook page.
Photos of the shark, posted to Facebook on December 31, show it approaching the boat and getting extremely close to the back of it. In one photo, the shark can be seen striking with its nose completely out of the water.
“This curious Great White kept sticking his head out of the water and bumping the boat,” the blogger said in a caption
It isn’t the first time this great white shark has been seen in the area.
“Apparently the same shark has been around that area the last week,” Trapman Bermagui told Newsweek.
Bermagui said this shark would have been “at least” nine feet long, a fairly average size for the species. Great white sharks can grow to 20 feet in rare circumstances. But on average, males reach reach 11 feet to 13 feet, while females reach 15 feet to 16 feet.
Sharks can be found in the waters around New South Wales all year round, but as the summer in Australia is in full swing, and great whites tend to prefer warmer waters, sightings are more common around this time of year.
It’s rare for sharks to actively interfere with a boat, although it has been known to happen. It isn’t clear why this particular shark approached the boat, but it’s usually out of curiosity.
Sometimes, boats can mimic the sounds of prey in the water, meaning sharks will come close to investigate. Sharks will usually leave boats alone once they release it isn’t their usual prey.
The pictures received a thousand likes on Facebook.
“That’s seriously scary,” one Facebook user said in the comments section.
Another Facebook user said: “Just saying hello boys. Wanna play come in the water it is nice. Good size great white.”
“Lucky he is only a little one,” another person said.
Other Facebook users theorized why the shark came so close to the boat.
One user said in the comment section: “I strongly believe that the galvanic corrosion caused by the different metals in the leg if the outboard gives off a vibe they can pick up and don’t know what it is, enhanced by years of training from cage diving and fishing activities. Only seems to be the adolescent ones that haven’t learnt that the motor doesn’t taste good.”
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