Student captures shark attack on GoPro while spearfishing off Santa Barbara coast

FOOTAGE shows the terrifying moment a university student was attacked by a great white shark while he was out spearfishing.

Santa Barbara college student Tyler McQuillen, 22, has captured the terrifying moment he was attacked by a great white shark while spearfishing. Picture: YouTube

A COLLEGE student from California has captured the terrifying moment he was attacked by a great white shark while spearfishing off the coast of Santa Barbara.

Tyler McQuillen, 22, was fishing with friends in shallow water at Refugio Point on September 1 when he was hit in the back by the monster shark, which is believed to have been close to four-metres.

Lucky escape: Tyler McQuillen was able to jab the great white with his speargun and swim to safety. Picture: YouTube

He initially thought his friends were playing a trick on him by pulling at his fin, not realising the shark had in fact bitten two of his toes.

Mr McQuillen briefly lost grip of his speargun but managed to retrieve it before the shark came back.

He jabbed the creature with the gun and swam back to shore, escaping with two broken toes, a laceration to his right foot and the incredible GoPro footage.

“I got that on video. Wooo, f---ing gnarly,” Mr McQuillen said when he surfaced.

The video was posted to YouTube and has been circulating on social media.

The damage: Tyler McQuillen's toes after the shark encounter. Picture: Imgur