A young Australian surfer has had a close encounter with a photo-bombing shark that shared a wave with him on Tuesday.

Chris Hasson said that he was taking photos of his 10-year-old son Eden riding a wave off Samurai Beach at Port Stephens, 180 kilometers (110 miles) north of Sydney, when something unexpected and indistinct caught his eye.

He discovered he had photographed the face of a twisting shark just below the surface with his son on an apparent collision course. Mr Hasson said shark experts had since told him it was a juvenile great white about 2.5 meters (8 feet) long.

"I saw the second photo and (thought) - no way," Mr Hasson told The AP. "I quickly called him in and whistled."

"He (Eden) saw a shape in the wave and thought it was seaweed and felt something as he went over the top - he got his leg rope caught on something - but he thought nothing of it until he saw the photo," Mr Hasson said.