'He just swallowed my whole spear': Diver's great white encounter

A scuba diver has had a terrifying close encounter with what he said was a great white shark off Perth.

The 3.5m predator launched at Chris Johnson, 34, snatching his spear while he was in the water of Hillarys in the city's north.

The Perth father was spearfishing at Three Mile Reef just after 11am when the shark emerged.

READ MORE: Parents of Perth footballer granted rare exemption for hospital visit

Luckily, he said the shark was only interested in his catch.

"I was just trying not to s--- myself really," he said.

"He took my fish in two bites and not only did he take my fish he just swallowed my whole spear and the fish, just swallowed it whole.

"I got my gun and pointed it to the side, but he just went chomp and swam off.

"He can keep the fish, mate he could even have the gun if he wanted the gun, it's all good."

Mr Johnson, who had been on his first solo dive, swam back to the beach where his wife and kids were waiting.

The popular dive spot turned deadly in 2016 after 60-year-old grandmother Doreen Collyer was attacked by a suspected great white shark.