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A surf lifesaver who was attacked on his surf ski by a suspected great white shark off Perth believes he's still alive because it became entangled in parts of the craft.
Martin Kane was shaken but uninjured after the three-metre shark cut through a group of four surf life saving club paddlers and bit his surf ski in half off Mullaloo Beach north of Perth about 7.15am on Wednesday.
The 62-year-old said it felt like being "rammed by a jet ski" and he heard a loud bang and crunching sound.
"Because it (the surf ski) is a sealed unit, when the shark bit it, it went off like an explosion," he told reporters.
"It really surprised me - I just didn't know what it was.
"It didn't strike me until I saw the fin that it was a shark."
Mr Kane was rescued by a fellow paddler after a petrifying few moments when he was forced to use his paddle to fend off the circling shark as he trod water.
He said he suspected stringers that run down the length of the ski and control the rudders saved his life.
"I suspect that its teeth were caught up in that and it was too bothered trying to get rid of the ski to chase me, so I'm very, very happy that was the case.
"I'm just very lucky to be here, very lucky to be able to see my grandkids again."
Surf Life Saving WA community safety manager Chris Peck said Mr Kane and his rescuer paddled back to shore at great speed.
"He's turned around and saw the shark going through and used his paddle to fend it off, and in that time his mate's come through and picked him up," Mr Peck told AAP.
"Obviously they paddled at a great rate into shore."
The incident happened about 150m offshore, about 1km south of the Mullaloo Surf Life Saving Club where Mr Kane has been a member for the past 21 years.
WA Fisheries Shark Response Unit manager Michael Burgess said the shark was likely to have been a great white.
"It appears the shark was coming from behind and has taken a bite at the end of the ski," he told AAP.
"There is documented evidence of great whites attacking small craft."
It was the second shark-related incident off Perth in a day, after a fisherman reported a five-metre great white had attacked a crab pot off Saxon Reef in Warnbro Sound, about 50km south of Mullaloo, at 8am (WST).
Mr Burgess said the two attacks, more than 50km apart, were likely to have been by different sharks, adding there was "some type of shark activity occurring along the Perth coast" at present.
"Obviously the whales are on their migratory pattern at the moment ... and there's a lull between two storms," he said.
"When we do have large sharks close to shore, it's some kind of ecological event that's drawing them there."
Mullaloo Beach was closed for several hours as a Fisheries vessel patrolled offshore and retrieved the remains of Mr Kane's surf ski.
There have been four fatal shark attacks in WA since September
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