© Barcroft Pacific

A British tourist received the shock of his life when a deadly Great White Shark started circling his fishing boat close to a beach.

For full story and pictures: 

Brian Bell, 47, an electrician from Stockton-On-Tees, Middlesborough, has been visiting his uncle Ray Theuma, 56, in Melbourne, Australia, for the past four weeks.

They took a fishing trip to Port Phillip Bay on Friday to catch Snapper fish – but almost became breakfast for a five metre long Great White.

The killer shark has never been seen in the bay before and has caused shock waves across the country because of how close it was to a popular beach.

Brian, who returns to Britain on Tuesday, said: “It was 8am and we were just getting ready to go home.

“I looked round and saw this shadow in the sea heading straight for our boat. At first I thought it was a dolphin, but as it got nearer I saw it’s fin and realised it was too big for a dolphin.

“I turned to my uncle who realised exactly what it was. He was trying to keep calm but I could tell he was frightened. He just kept telling me to stay still, don’t panic and not to do anything silly.”

He added: “The shark circled us for 10 minutes. It was the longest ten minutes of my life. I was just in shock. I think because I was in so much shock, that I didn’t get hysterical.”

© Barcroft Pacific

The pair were in a 4.6 metre long fishing boat and they say the shark was bigger than the boat.

Brian said: “It brushed up alongside the boat three or four times.

“The only place I’ve seen a Great White before is in Jaws the movie, or in documentaries.”

Uncle Ray Theuma, 56, a health and safety officer, said he had never seen a Great White in that area before.

It was spotted just seven kilometres from Altona Beach.

After ten minutes, the shark simply swam away leaving them unscathed.

Brian said: “The best thing I did was to take pictures because no one believed us when we got back to shore. They thought we were joking.

“Then I showed them the pictures and that’s when they realised we were telling the truth.

“My only regret is that I didn’t get any video. I’ve just bought a new mobile phone and didn’t know how to switch it to video mode.

“When it left us after ten minutes, I was sort of hoping it would come back, just so I could get video. But my uncle told me we were not going to hang around to see if it returned. He was adamant about that.”

© Barcroft Pacific

Brian said he couldn’t wait to tell his friends in Middlesbrough.

He said: “I sometimes go fishing in Whitby and I can tell you one thing, there are definitely no sharks there.

“When I came out to Australia I told my uncle I wanted to see a kangaroo, a shark and a snake in the wild.

“I saw the kangaroo straight away and now I’ve seen a shark. I’ve not seen a snake but there are a few days left yet.”

He added: “Now it’s all over I can appreciate what I saw. It was amazing. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Experts say the water temperature is ideal for sharks and that there is an abundance of bait fish enticing them further in to shore.

Nick Kirby, from Melbourne Aquarium, said an increase in fish populations after the tightening of fishing permits recently could attract more sharks into the bay.

He said: “What you’ve got is a temperature in the bay which is a great temperature for a cold-water animal if it wants to speed up its metabolism and have a feed.

“I would suggest it’s going to be a long summer given how early the temperatures have peaked.”

Words by Jon Kaila

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