A Dunsborough fisherman received a shock on Thursday morning when a four-metre white shark circled his boat for 20 minutes.
Warren Brown was out fishing two kilometres offshore when the shark swam up to his boat taking a nip at the motor.
Mr Brown said the shark hung around circling the boat ‘eyeing them off’ around 7.30am.
“Bugger me, it just had a go at the motor,” Mr Brown can be heard saying in the video.
On Wednesday, the Department of Fisheries issued a shark warning around Yallingup after increased activity in the region.
Between Sunday, April 15 and Wednesday, April 18 there have been six sightings of sharks, including two reports of white sharks.
On Wednesday at 11.24am hours was of a 3.5 metre white shark was reported by the Surf Life Saving WA helicopter.
A bronze whaler was also detected by the shark monitoring network, on Saturday, April 14 at Smiths Beach.
At beaches south of these locations, there have been significant whale carcass strandings over several weeks that could raise the risk of increased shark activity.
Two surfers were attacked on Monday.
The first attack happened in the morning at Cobblestones off Gracetown and was flown to Royal Perth Hospital for surgery. Later in the day a second man was bitten by a shark off Lefthanders Beach, receiving treatment for injuries to his leg.
On Wednesday, the 2018 Margaret River Pro was cancelled.
Unfavourable conditions had paused competition during Tuesday and surfing was expected to continue later in the week until the cancellation was announced.
Competing surfers Italo Ferreira and Gabriel Medina voiced their concerns on social media, saying they did not feel safe training or competing in the location.
Ms Goldschmidt said that the risk of sharks in the water was something surfers were familiar with.
“Sharks are an occasional reality of WSL competitions, and of surfing in general,” she said.
“Everyone associated with our sport knows that. There have been incidents in the past - and it's possible that there will be incidents in the future - which did not (and will not) result in the cancellation of an event.
“However, current circumstances are very unusual and troubling, and we have decided that the elevated risk during this season's Margaret River Pro has crossed the threshold for what is acceptable.”
Beaches in the Shire of Augusta Margaret River between Ellensbrook and North Point in Gracetown reopened at 6pm on Friday after the attacks.
“Over the past few days we’ve been working closely with relevant State Government agencies to determine when beaches can reopen,” said Shire Ranger Coordinator Mick O’Regan.
“A coordinated decision has been made to reopen beaches. Agencies will be monitoring shark activity over the weekend, and we urge members of the public to please check for beach closure signs in case new closures occur.”