Great white shark circles charter boat off Victoria’s coast

A great white shark has been filmed circling a fishing charter boat close to four kilometres off Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula.

Jarrod Quinn had a dozen people on board as the shark lurked by their boat for almost 15 minutes.

“I surf around the area as well mate,” he told 9NEWS. “I’m definitely glad I wasn’t on my surfboard.”

The encounter is the latest in a record number of shark sightings off Victoria’s coast this summer.

Experts say the predators are coming closer to beaches, possibly due to warmer water currents and bait fish creepy closer to shore.