Great white shark rams Western Australian filmmaker

A Western Australian filmmaker has come face to face with a great white shark after being violently rammed from behind by the ferocious predator.

Ash Gibb from Kalgoorlie had heard rumours of a school of great white sharks hiding off a remote beach near Esperance but wanted to see for himself if the stories were true.

In a video posted to YouTube on December 9, Gibb uses his underwater camera to track a small fish when something crashes into him from behind.

As he spins around with his camera he comes face to face with a huge great white shark. "This was the first shark I have seen underwater. To be tested by this massive beast was not what I expected although I was warned!!!!! What an epic start to my journey of underwater film making," he wrote.

Gibbs told the ABC he estimated the shark to be at least five metres in length.

The Western Australian filmmaker kept his camera rolling as the shark circled several times and swam right towards him.

"I reminded myself of my belief about sharks, which is the fact that they don't eat humans on purpose. We're not their food," he said.

"I think that's sort of what got me through a lot of nerves, because it was very intense. Even though I wanted to go and do that, it was a very testing situation."