He's behind you! The moment a 6ft shark leapt from the water just yards from surfers

Fortunately, neither seemed to notice this 6ft Black Tip shark as it frolicked off New Smyrna Beach (or 'the sharkbite capital of the world', as surfers know it). And the Blacktip itself clearly wasn't feeling peckish. After performing the aerial spin, it plopped back into the water and disappeared.

It's behind you: The shark leaps out of the water as two surfers catch a wave

Don't look now: The surfers have no idea the 6ft shark is right behind them

Flying fish: A total of 12 people have been bitten off New Smyrna Beach this year

Despite comments on some surfing websites, photographer Kem McNair insists no digital manipulation was involved in his picture.

Mr McNair explained how, while photographing people enjoying the waves on the Atlantic coast, he noticed something strange in the background.

When he looked at his camera's display, he noticed three amazing frames showing a spinner shark leaping clear of the water.

He said: "It was around 1pm and I had just come in from surfing, grabbed my camera and walked to the waterline with my friend Skipper Eppelin.

'I saw something in the background and I thought, "What was that?", he described.   "I looked at the display on my camera and there it was - a spinner shark.

'This whole event happened in half a second - it was so quick.' 

The online shark and surfing communities were less convinced, with bloggers speculating today that the immage had been digital manipulated. 

But the photographer claims 20 surfers and a friend saw it all. "It was one of those fluke things," he said.

"I just happened to be panning the camera right into the shark." Marine experts say the photos of the Black Tip shark - not considered a danger to humans - are genuine.

McNair added: "I've got friends who can call them up and set them straight."

The shark's entire body leapt clear of the waves, twisted and disappeared next to two unaware surfers.

A total of 12 people have been bitten by sharks off the beach, which lies south of Daytona, this year. 

'These sharks are very very common in these waters but I have never captured pictures like these,' says Kem, who has been taking photographs at the beach for the past 40 years.

'We see them all the time - if you ride a wave and the water is clear you may see two or three sharks in the length of one ride, and we see them jump numerous times a day.'

He added: 'The surfers in these pictures never saw this shark at all.

'The guy in the background may have heard the splash but he took off paddling away from the shark in a hurry!

'I think probably 10 or 15 people on the beach saw it, and they were amazed although it happens quite often.  

'But not everyone has a photo of the event like this, that's for sure.'