Huge Great White Shark Spotted Chasing Tiger Shark Off Coast Of Perth

The 5.3 metre long shark was spotted swimming in the waters around Cottesloe Beach on Friday before it became tangled in some protective netting and was rescued and released afterwards.

It's the second largest shark that has been spotted in Western Australia, and prompted the Department of Fisheries officials to shut the beach down on two occasions.

After finding it entangled in drumlines, they eventually managed to tag the gigantic fish and send it off safely.

In footage captured by Nine News, the teams from the Fisheries Department can be seen dangling off the side of the boat in order to attempt to free the stricken creature.

At one point, one of them puts a hand dangerously close to the jaws of the beast whilst trying to get it loose from the protective nets.

The shark was first spotted at about 9:30am on Friday by the Surf Life Saving helicopter that was patrolling to see if there were sharks close to shore.

The beach was immediately closed after the alarms went off and surfers were removed from the water.

The great white seems to have been chasing a tiger shark that was seen on Thursday night in the waters surrounding Scarborough and Leighton beaches.

However, the larger shark was then spotted again afterwards, at a time when people were much more likely to be in the water.

That meant that the beach had to close down for a second time.

At 5.3 metres long, this shark isn't far away from the biggest ever seen in those parts. That behemoth was 5.4 metres long.

Since last Monday there have been 11 beaches closed due to shark sightings, and 30 sharks in total have been seen.

Eight Australians have died this year to date as a result of shark attacks. That's the highest death toll since 1934.

Of those eight people, three have been in Western Australia. The latest attack was at Cable Beach on November 22 when 59-year-old Charles Cernobori was killed by a four metre long tiger shark whilst bodyboarding around two kilometres north of the tourist section of the beach.

On October 9, dad-of-two Andrew Sharpe was killed whilst out surfing at Kelp Beds in Wylie Bay on the southern coast of Western Australia near Esperance.