did the fish stop bitting

 What's the risk standing in a 5+m boat?

 They werent really biting anyway because of the full moon a few small pinkys heaps of big arches on the sounder and heaps of bait fish my boat is only 5mt 

 Did you have your out board idling? And was your sounder/transducer turned on? The reason why I ask is what/why do sharks bite the stern/motor leg and not the bow?

 Nah was anchored up mate engine was off sounder was on tho massive school of baitfish lit the whole screen up then it came up and went straight for the outboard

 Id say its because of the electrical current running through the motor from the battery playing with there senses.

 Saw this on Sunrise this morning - assume it was you?

 I seen a 3.5m one on thursday night inbetween carnac/garden. Cruised past once and then left. Showed up on the sounder as well, pretty cool

I would say looking from their perspective a hull looks a whole lot like a floating whale carcass and probably the outboard is the easiest part to get a bite on, but that probably makes too much sense.

They seem to take a liking to mouthing the motor leg .. think I would perceive that as a declaration of war though , lol .. good pics 

 Probably to do with the small electro currents between outboard body, prop and sacrificial anode.

pricks of things.they always take drum lines out in time,if you respect them jump in. I lost all respect last year when 1 smashed my hull for no reason ., still haven't met one under water .great fish for sure,,once again great pics

We had an encounter with the one between carnac and garden last wed night , trimmed a few pinkies for us as well as getting caught in the anchor rope that was fun , and its every bit of 3.5m plus  !

That was my mate jamie that was on sunrise I couldnt make it because of work commitment. 

We got told by sea rescue they are working with calm and fisherys taging and tracking the whites that when they are feeding if there is a boat in the area that they will come up and nudge and bite the boat to say hey this is my food back off. Its a dominants thing that they do id say it was feeding on the baitfish and snapper that were under us

They tend to bite at outboards or metal objects as metal has a minute electrical current/discharge (regardless of batteries etc) that they can sense. Any living thing (aka their prey) also gives off a small current. Their teeth/mouths are their hands so they are just checking it out and having a feel looksee.

Alf Dean once caught one off Streaky bay with a car numberplate in its stomach, another was caught with an alarm clock.

Not too sure about the sea rescue explanation, from what i've seen of these things it could have turned out a lot worse for you if it was in an aggressive mood.

That White bit your outboard out of curiosity, as the outboard is the only thing subsurface it's easier for the white to get to and "taste" before deciding it's next action. They're pretty curious animals not too different to the way a cat can't leave alone a slightly moving object that it does not recognise.

If it was moving into "feed" mode (which requires aggression) it would have given your boat a serious shake, lossened the bolts on your outboard mount and probably rendered your outboard useless within a fraction of seconds. When in an aggressive mood Whites are quite happy and can quite easily get the top third of their body out of the water within the space of 4 meters (as in run up) which in the case of that shark would place it on top of the cowling and all it's weight on your transom..........and that's f@ckin scary!

The other thing about a shark that size is that at 5m it no longer feeds on fish (there are exceptions such as distress signals etc) and specifically targets marine mamals not having to feed for up to two weeks after it's last kill.

I witnessed a big white do a total breach fully inverted from about 100m away on the south coast a couple of months ago. What an experience, all over in 2 seconds and has left me feeling uneasy on the water since.  Textbook white territory, seals cruising at dawn and dusk along a deep drop off. Something ill never forget.

To see such a magnificent animal in its naturel environment and so close.. you are lucky I would really like to see one that close.

 I didnt realise the site had so many Great White experts. 

sharks in WA shallow water hunt seals etc by biting their legs or flippers off and waiting for them to bleed to death and then munching them down. unlike specific parts of sth africa where they breach.

i think as the motor stick out from the boat a bit and looks like a fin they go for this instinctively.

might be talking sh.t but it makes sense to me.

PS awesome sight and pics. amazing animals

 Since they don't have hands, don't they just bite/mouth things to investigate?

I think you are right on the money z00m, it makes sense to me, like I wonder what this is bite test required.

close for photo and video, wonder if that one has been "trained" to hang around boats for a free feed. Not implying you did though mallon123, just pisses me off people do that, the news gets a hold of it then all of a sudden theres a headline on the news  about "boats being harrassed by giant white pointers" we better kill em all off!!