And it may have returned with a friend.

Three fisherman jigging for squid on Tuesday only 100 metres away from a confirmed sighting at Murrays Beach two months ago watched on in awe as a three-metre beast cruised to the surface and eyeballed them.

Jimmy Blenkey had taken mates Gavin Fairclough and Brad Noble in his five-metre boat to ‘‘catch some dinner’’ when they first noticed something rise from near their sea anchor.

‘‘It just came up for a look at us, rolled on its side and cruised off,’’ Mr Blenkey said. ‘‘We waited around for a while thinking it might come back, but it didn’t.’’

What got the fisherman even more excited was the smaller fish following the great white shark. They started pondering if it could be a shark pup following its mother.

But shark experts have been quick to point out there is no evidence white sharks stay with their young after birth.

Other fisherman thought the smaller fish may be a cobia, a species which look a little like a small shark and are known to follow larger animals to scavenge.

‘‘We have all caught cobias before and none of us thought it was one of those,’’ Mr Blenkey said. ‘‘But it obviously could be anything.’’

Mr Fairclough was the quick-thinking one to get out his smart phone and take a few images of the fish, including the one pictured, as they made their sharp appearance.

But the lack of detail and water distortion has made it impossible for shark experts to confirm the species of either fish.

‘‘In terms of the small fish, it appears that both lobes of the tail are of equal size/shape, which is not really the case with a white shark,’’ shark expert Dave Powter said. ‘‘Again though the distortion makes it difficult to be confident.

‘‘In terms of parental care, there is no known evidence of this in white sharks.’’

The sighting was 100metres north of the Murrays Beach jetty and in about eight metres of water.

In December, fisherman Clinton Bambach took footage of a similar sized great white shark which swam up to the jetty. Several sightings followed and prompted experts to try and find the shark. Their concerns it was injured were compounded when sightings stopped.

This article first appeared on The Herald website.