Professional Surfer Fights Off Shark During Surfing Competition
Mick Fanning, an Australian surfing champion, was attacked on live television by a large shark while participating in the final world tour event of a surfing competition in South Africa. Fanning had just begun his final against Julian Wilson in Jeffreys Bay, along the eastern Cape, when the massive shark approached from behind, knocking him off his board and into the ocean, reports NBC News.
Fanning said: “I was just sitting there and I felt something just get stuck in my leg rope, and I was kicking trying to get it away. I just saw fins. I was waiting for the teeth.”
Fanning, 34, used his board as a makeshift shield to block himself from the aquatic predator. The feat worked, thankfully, and the surfer’s desperate attempts to blockade himself ended up saving his life. He emerged from underneath the roaring waters unscathed. The surfer then got himself to a safety boat. Competition organizers decided the chance of another attack was just “too high” after two sharks were located in the area. They cancelled the event outright.
