Man sits on whale carcass surrounded by huge deadly sharks

An 'irresponsible' man has been pictured sitting on a rotting whale carcass surrounded by tiger sharks and a huge great white in Rottnest, Western Australia.

Pictures of Harrison Williams, taken by crew members on the Seven News helicopter, show him sitting on the carcass shirtless posing for pictures as other men look on from a nearby boat.

A man poses for photos on a whale carcass. Sharks all around him. He won't be charged. Find out why @7NewsPerth at 6 pic.twitter.com/E3amtI5Q5m
- Jordan Cutts (@CuttsJordan) November 1, 2014

"@CuttsJordan: A man's jumped on top of a dead whale off rotto. Surrounded by sharks. @7NewsPerth pic.twitter.com/xOcHHPfcQf"
- Perth Potter (@PerthPotter) November 1, 2014

@7NewsPerth chopper. Man's jumped in the water and climbed on top of a dead whale off Rottnest surrounded by sharks pic.twitter.com/vbMSNDG66D
- Simon Hydzik (@simonhydzik) November 1, 2014

Harrison jumped off a boat and swam over to the humpback whale carcass at around 1.30pm local time on Saturday afternoon.

According to the Daily Mail, the whale carcass has been floating between Rottnest and Fremantle off the Western Australia coast for a number of weeks.

Crew on a Westpac Lifesaver Helicopter from Surf Life Saving WA caught pictures of sharks feeding on the whale, reports Perth Now. There were also pictures of the huge shark circling a boat nearby.

Post by 9 News Perth.

Surf Life Saving WA tweeted alerts warning people to stay away.

Fisheries advise several sharks tiger and 1 white shark sighted at Widmills between Rottnest & Freo at 1335 hrs. Feeding on a whale.
- Surf Life Saving WA (@SLSWA) November 1, 2014

The Westpac Lifesaver Helicopter has sighted 2 large sharks feeding on a whale carcass 3nm north east of Rottnest.
- Surf Life Saving WA (@SLSWA) November 1, 2014

Tony Capelutti, from the Department of Fisheries Shark Response Unit, also confirmed there were a number of shark sightings and warnings throughout the day.

He told WA Today: "Around lunchtime one of the reports stated that four tiger sharks and a white shark were feeding on the carcass of a humpback whale four nautical miles east of Rottnest."

The man was in one of a number of boats watching sharks feeding before he jumped into the water and swam over to the whale.

"We are assuming that when he did that the sharks were still in the vicinity," Capelutti said.

He added: "I don't know why he did that but if it was for some kind of adrenaline rush it was very unwise.

"He has not committed any offence as far as the Fisheries Act is concerned but it is a risky situation and risky behaviour."

According to the West Australian, Tony added: "If sharks were feeding on that whale carcass when he swam over then that type of behaviour is highly risky.

"It potentially could have had some critical consequences, not only for the person but also for the witnesses and other people that would have had to assist.

"Ninety-nine per cent of the population would see that behaviour as irresponsible."

Tony said even if sharks weren't present at the time it was still "highly risky" as "that type of large food source because even if you can't see sharks it's highly likely the carcass is attracting them from a long way away".

Men in a nearby boat took him off the carcass and delivered him safely back to his own boat.

Reactions to the man's behaivour online have been mixed, with one Twitter user wrote: "Loon. Nothing more to say. Just... Loon." Others weren't quite so polite, with one user calling him a "w****r".