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Fears second great white stalking Adelaide beaches

There are fears a second great white shark, up to seven metres long, is stalking Adelaide's beaches.

Local fishermen have exclusively told 7 News how they were nearly knocked from their boat by the one-tonne monster and they have warned others to look out.

The shark, dubbed "Big Bruce", was pictured as it terrorised stunned fishermen 2km off the coast of West Beach.

The shark terrified fishermen off the coast of West Beach as it banged their boat and rocked them back and forth. Photo: Screenshot/7 News
The shark terrified fishermen off the coast of West Beach as it banged their boat and rocked them back and forth. Photo: Screenshot/7 News

“That was a whopper, seven metres,” Joddy Kearns, a friend of the fishermen, said.

“It was an aggressive shark. It was banging, rocking them back and forth and they were absolutely scared. Very scared.”

As the fishermen frantically pulled up their lines and tried to flee, Mr Kearns says “the shark grabbed the propeller and stopped them for a little bit”.

As soon as the fishermen broke loose, “they were out of there”.

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The incident happened just weeks after surf lifesavers spotted a "seven-metre" shark off Marino Rocks, forcing swimmers out of the water and the cancellation of a nearby junior lifesaving carnival.

This shark was photographed 100m offshore from Merino Rocks in South Australia in January and caused Nippers events to be cancelled. Photo: 7 News
This shark was photographed 100m offshore from Merino Rocks in South Australia in January and caused Nippers events to be cancelled. Photo: 7 News

“To be honest, I didn't think we'd ever see it again,” Andrew Bedford said.

But it seems we have, and a world-renowned shark expert thinks there is actually more than one.

“I'm not saying it's impossible that it's the same individual, but that to me would seem highly unlikely,” shark expert Dr Yannis Papastamatiou said.

This image gives an idea of the size of the shark spotted by fishermen off the coast of West Beach. Photo: 7 News
This image gives an idea of the size of the shark spotted by fishermen off the coast of West Beach. Photo: 7 News

Great whites can swim up to 40km/h, meaning it is possible "Big Bruce'' could cruise the SA coastline from Outer Harbor to Victor Harbor in a day.

“I can understand people might be frightened,” Mr Bedford said.

Dr Papastamatiou said the situation calls for a little “commonsense”.

“If ones are seen close to the beach, then perhaps it's not a good idea to be in the water.”

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