An Australian man has spoken out about the terror he felt after he was forced to fight off a 15-foot great white shark with a spear, after the beast had been circling him for 10 minutes.

Joe Petrovich, a brick paver from Perth, encountered the 15-foot great white shark while spearfishing with friends two kilometers off the coast at Burns Beach on Saturday. But shortly after jumping out of their small boat to enter the water, Joe noticed a great white had spotted him and began circling the exposed fisherman.

Joe attempted to swim back to his vessel, but the shark was too quick, and had now started to swim very close to him, coming at him from different directions. It wasn't long before the shark lunged for Joe, and he was forced to fight it off with a spear.

Speaking to 7News, Joe said: "It was following me, it was pretty much stalking me all the way back, trying to find a weakness in my defense. It was coming at me from lots of different directions, the left-hand side, the right-hand side, it's coming at me from underneath."

Amazingly, Joe's friends were completely unaware of the danger they were all in, but after Joe was able to make it back to their boat - which was smaller than the shark - he quickly alerted them.

The spearfisherman holds no hard feelings against the great white, explaining that it was just doing what's in its nature:

"(The shark) was doing basically what it does all the time. It was just looking for a feed. I just wish it wasn't me. I could have put my fist down its throat it was that close.

"I was s*** scared. I mean how would you be? I think I'm going to lose one leg and I might lose the bottom half of the other one as well.

"You've only got one shot...it's very hard to kill an animal that big. If you wound it you are only going to make it angrier."

Joe has said that despite the scary experience, it hasn't deterred him from spearfishing in the future.

I personally think Joe should go buy a lottery ticket! How many of us will ever be able to say we fought with a great white shark and came off unscathed?

An Australian man has spoken out about the terror he felt after he was forced to fight off a 15-foot great white shark with a spear, after the beast had been circling him for 10 minutes.

Joe Petrovich, a brick paver from Perth, encountered the 15-foot great white shark while spearfishing with friends two kilometers off the coast at Burns Beach on Saturday. But shortly after jumping out of their small boat to enter the water, Joe noticed a great white had spotted him and began circling the exposed fisherman.

Joe attempted to swim back to his vessel, but the shark was too quick, and had now started to swim very close to him, coming at him from different directions. It wasn't long before the shark lunged for Joe, and he was forced to fight it off with a spear.

Speaking to 7News, Joe said: "It was following me, it was pretty much stalking me all the way back, trying to find a weakness in my defense. It was coming at me from lots of different directions, the left-hand side, the right-hand side, it's coming at me from underneath."

Amazingly, Joe's friends were completely unaware of the danger they were all in, but after Joe was able to make it back to their boat - which was smaller than the shark - he quickly alerted them.

The spearfisherman holds no hard feelings against the great white, explaining that it was just doing what's in its nature:

"(The shark) was doing basically what it does all the time. It was just looking for a feed. I just wish it wasn't me. I could have put my fist down its throat it was that close.

"I was s*** scared. I mean how would you be? I think I'm going to lose one leg and I might lose the bottom half of the other one as well.

"You've only got one shot...it's very hard to kill an animal that big. If you wound it you are only going to make it angrier."

Joe has said that despite the scary experience, it hasn't deterred him from spearfishing in the future.

I personally think Joe should go buy a lottery ticket! How many of us will ever be able to say we fought with a great white shark and came off unscathed?