Great white shark tries to bite fishing boat in New Zealand

Three fishermen had a close encounter with a great white shark in New Zealand when the predator swam up to their small boat and tried to bite it.

Hamish Clarke, 23, was in the boat and captured the moment the curious creature swam around them at Frenchman Island.

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Clarke and his group were fishing for bait for a competition when the shark appeared.

As one man held a fishing line with bait on it, Mr Clarke was heard saying: "Don't lose your hand. Better watch out."

Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, he said it was the first time he had ever seen a shark.

"We didn't know what breed of shark it was until it got closer," he said.

Clarke added that he thought it was around 3.5m long and that it "definitely wasn't shy".

Department of Conservation shark expert Clinton Duffy told Inquisitr that it was "always exciting" to hear of such reports.

He said it is normal for a great white shark to examine objects at the surface and that it probably smelled the bait on the boat.

Duffy added that great white sharks are a protected species and reminded people to respect the animals and avoid dangerous stunts in order to photograph sharks.