A small seaside community is for a 21 ft. great white shark swimming in the local lake.

A fisherman netted the shark in Tuggerah Lake, which opens to the Pacific Ocean 60 miles north of Sydney, but when he realized the shark was bigger than his 18-foot boat he let it go.

It is unusual for the creature, dubbed "Jaws" by local authorities, to be in such shallow, warm water. Tuggerah Lake is only 10-feet deep and seven and a half miles long. It is a popular spot for fisherman and vacationers.

The sole witness to the shark is described as credible with years of fishing experience, but refuses interviews out of distrust for the media, the Sydney Herald reported.

The endangered fish are the largest predatory fish on earth. On average they are about 15-feet long, but great-whites larger than 20 feet have been recorded.

While they have long been viewed as man-eaters, the great-white shark's diet is more likely to include seals, sea-lions, carrion, small toothed whales, and even sea turtles.

Understood to be naturally curious creatures, great-whites are known for "sampling" human flesh, then moving on. The majority of attacks by great-whites are not fatal.