Striking drone footage has emerged of a shark circling an 8.5-metre patrol boat while prowling through the water.

Filmmaker Dave Riggs, who makes documentaries about sharks, caught the great white on tape on Friday and posted the video on Facebook.

"Big fish," he captioned it.

Mr Riggs spotted the shark lurking about 50 metres from Fourth Beach in Esperance.

"I got a tip-off that a shark was out at Westies so I grabbed my drone and put it up," Mr Riggs told PerthNow.

"And what I got is this footage.

"It was just cruising along. It looked chilled."

Public report 4.5m white shark sighted 08:42hrs 09/12, Fourth Beach, Esperance 50m offshore , heading towards Twilight Beach . — Surf Life Saving WA (@SLSWA) December 9, 2017

The National Geographic says great whites are the "largest predatory fish on Earth" and grow to an average of 4.5 metres in length.

They can weigh up to 2500 kilograms or more.

The sighting comes just a few months after a fatal shark attack at nearby surfing spot Kelp Beds where 17-year-old Laeticia Brouwer was killed.

She had lost so much blood that, despite receiving CPR at the scene, she never regained consciousness.

There have also been concerns the carcass of a 45,000-kilogram sperm whale, which was washed ashore in the last week onto Hopetoun Beach, could be attracting more sharks to the area.