Heart-stopping moment great white shark chases surfers as they swim for their lives after mistaking beast for seal

NAIL-BITING footage has captured the moment a group of surfers paddled for their lives as a 15-foot great white shark stalked them.   Hein Cooper, 30, was surfing with pal Genji Pitt near Ulladulla on New South Wales South Coast when they spotted the shark’s dorsal fin moving rapidly moving toward them.  Pictured in the red circle is the shark’s outline under the water as the group raced to shore InstagramThe surfers paddle for their lives when they realise what is stalking them[/caption] The friends plus four other surfers in their group were filmed by an onlooker desperately paddling back to the rocks to escape the great white.  Mr Cooper, who initially thought the beast was a harmless seal, told Daily Mail Australia about the “humbling” moment he realised how close he had come to being attacked. He said: “I was facing towards the ocean and looked back towards the beach and saw a fin about 35m away. “I thought at first it was a seal as it had its fin out to the side to get air, but when I looked back it had come to within eight metres of us — that’s when I realised and had a Jaws moment and yelled ‘Shark’” Despite his brush with injury or death, Mr Cooper said he felt lucky to be so close to “nature’s finest designs” during the encounter on September 18. From now on, he said he and his friends have since bought tourniquets to prepare themselves for future shark encounters. Most read in The Sun STAR REPLACEMENT Strictly reveals Covid-stricken Craig's replacement as judge tomorrow RACE SHAME England cricket ace Alex Hales pictured in blackface 'in tribute to Tupac' DUCH COURAGE Meghan Markle shows true feelings about royal title, says body language expert EGG-CITING Archie feeds chickens in jeans and a cute basket in previously unseen footage 'I'M GONNA POP' Gavin & Stacey's Joanna Page shows off HUGE baby bump days before birth IN YOUR FACE Got daughter's name tattoo on face but people say I named her after Facebook It comes amid a rise in great white shark attacks across Australia. In the 1990s there were 82 recorded shark attacks in Australia, which jumped to 161 by the following decade. Between 2010 to 2020 there were 220. Another close call was caught on camera in off the north coast of Tasmania. The heart-stopping footage was filmed while dad Sean Vinar and his son James Vinar were watching sea lions off the north coast of Tasmania. YouTubeThe moment the ‘great white’ slammed its tail on the surface of the water[/caption] Sean and his son travelled to the north coast of Tasmania to watch sea lions We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun news desk? Email us at exclusive@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4104. You can WhatsApp us on 07423 720 250. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours. Click here to get The Sun newspaper delivered for FREE for the next six weeks.