Great white shark inches from scared expert after lunging at research boat in astonishing footage

Astonishing footage shows the moment a top shark expert got a shock while on a tagging expedition when a huge great white leaped from the water with its jaws open.

Greg Skomal, of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, was looking for the fish on a research mission off the Massachusetts coast, when the one he'd been tracking lunged at him.

"It came right up and opened its mouth right at my feet," the senior biologist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries says, before immediately continuing to look for the shark.

"It jumped right out of the water," the boat’s captain can be heard saying.

In a statement, the conservancy said: “While encounters like this one are rare, this video shows that they’re certainly possible.”