Great white shark spotted off Queensland tourism hotspot

A great white shark has been spotted about eight kilometres off the coast of Surfers Paradise.

The 2.5-metre beast caught local charter boat operator Shannon Green by surprise, and that was before the shark started circling the boat.

"We pulled up, and we were fishing and seen the shark fin come up; started going around the boat a bit," Mr Green told 9News.

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"Then we actually got a good view of it, and he was just curious having a good look at us."

Great whites are usually found in cooler waters and are a more common sight in Southern Australia.

However, this titan of the sea appeared to be comfortable in the more tropical waters.

"I've seen one down south before but not up in this area there are a couple around but not very common in this area", Mr Green said.

"It was really cool to see just how docile he was just having a look around."