Huge tiger shark bumps diver's camera (video)

A diver has experienced an extremely close encounter with a large four-metre tiger shark in Perth, Australia.

Documentary filmmaker Andre Rerekura was filming underwater 50km off the coast of Geraldton when the huge shark swam straight towards him and bumped into his camera.

But the conservationist said that over the course of the day's filming, the crew encountered three tiger sharks, none of which were aggressive.

In fact, he said, they were more like "big puppy dogs". That didn't mean to say he wasn't a little bit nervous.

According to Perth Now, Andre said he tried to hide behind his camera, adding: "It's a pretty big camera so you feel pretty shielded really."

He added: "I didn't feel threatened at all, though it was still nerve-racking having a big animal swim up to you, like she might do a last second charge. But no, there was no aggression ... like a puppy dog of the sea. We were stoked.

"She was really healthy. She had a bit of a stumpy dorsal fin from an injury or something. She was the friendliest one out of them all. She was showing no signs of aggression."

The video was uploaded to YouTube and the Facebook page of Terra Australis, a group of friends and freedivers who film wildlife in the waters off WA.