Fisherman jumps in to swim with sharks

A spearfisherman in Ningaloo has filmed himself swimming with four sharks.

Rob, from Ningaloo in WA, jumped in to swim with the group of silky sharks when he was out spearfishing with friends on Saturday.

"I didn't have to get in then but I did, because it's just fun," the 23-year-old told Perth Now.

"They were swimming under us and you can run your hands along their whole bodies as they swim past," he said.

Rob's friends were feeding the sharks with burly when he decided to join them.

The footage of the encounter, filmed on a friend's GoPro, shows four sharks between two and four metres long feeding, swimming next to Rob and circling back towards him after he strokes them. 

Rob says he's been swimming with sharks since he was five years old and doesn't believe they're aggressive. 

"If you're being mean to it, it'll be mean back to you," he said.

"So you've just got to take it easy and you'll be right."

His optimism isn't necessarily backed by science.

Silky sharks are considered dangerous to humans and can be aggressive. Their habit of feeding by driving fish into schools then whipping their heads back and forth, razor-sharp teeth on full display, means if they do attack, they inflict maximum damage. 

The Department of Fisheries urges people not to get in the water with sharks, touch them or feed them.