With shark encounters on the rise near Sydney, a nearby spearfisher captured an intense moment on film as a great white shark circled him at Maroubra.

Both hunters kept a close eye on each other, before connecting in a dramatic face-off caught on his GoPro.

Dean goes to the ocean to find peace but on Tuesday afternoon he found a curious 2.5-metre great white that was drawn to his catch.

For 3½ minutes, they were locked in a staring contest.

”It was a mixture of feelings, fear, admiration, like such a beautiful creature” Dean said.

“(I) just sorta went into survival mode in terms of how I was going to behave.”

As the shark circled and came towards him, Dean made a decision.

“I duck-dived at that point and swam straight at it, just hoping that it was going to turn and it did. It turned broadside” he said.

“Then I pushed my gun out, speargun, just trying to warn her. 

“It didn’t even phase her, she just kept kicking.”

With another direct approach, he jammed his speargun into the shark’s nose, and knew it was time to get out.

His action camera captured his immediate relief.

“F—ing hell, well I’m alive,” he said, at the water’s edge.

“Still got the heart pumping. Surprisingly I stayed really calm, just sort of kept my eyes on it.

“The only time I freaked out was when I couldn’t see it anymore.”

The tagged shark pinged a local receiver at Maroubra 10 minutes before Dean’s encounter.

Data showed it had been hanging around the area for several days after travelling up from Stanwell Park.

Dean intends to share his footage with the Department of Primary Industries.

“I think standing my ground was important,” he said.

“Not letting her know she was alpha, even though she certainly was.”

He even managed to hang on to the salmon that attracted the shark in the first place.

“It’s in the fridge actually. I’m going to have it for lunch today,” Dean said.