Video shows huge shark coming within a few feet of a fishing boat - without the fishermen realising

The lucky fisherman managed to keep hold of his fingertips

A shark swims off the coast of South Africa (ANNA ZIEMINSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Two Australian men had a terrifying close encounter with a shark while fishing off the coast of Blanche Harbour in the south of the country - and they didn't even realise it at the time.

The video, recently posted to the 'Shark Spotters' Facebook group, shows fisherman Matt Kittel reeling in a prize catch over the side of his boat.

As he leans down over the side to unhook the fish, we see a huge bronze whaler shark passing just under the boat, which was presumably attracted to the area after sensing the struggling fish.

Best to unhook the fish IN your boat."I didn't even realise it was there until I watched the video after" - Its months...

Posted by Shark Spotters on Wednesday, 20 January 2016

Amazingly, Kittel doesn't react at all as the shark passes just a few feet from his fingertips, and neither does the cameraman - the two didn't even know they had a close call until they rewatched their video a few months later.

Bronze whaler sharks, also known as copper sharks, are commonly found around Australia and New Zealand, and tend to stay in shallow waters around bays or harbours.

The species, when fully grown, typically measures around 3.3 metres (11 feet) long from nose to tail, and can weigh over 300 kg (672 lb).

The shark isn't prone to attacking people, but because they typically live in areas close to human activity, a number of unprovoked attacks have been recorded in recent years.