The viral video of Australian pro-surfer Mick Fanning’s shark encounter at the J-Bay Open World Surfing competition in South Africa has caused people here to be more cautious in the ocean.
Local surfer Kaytlin Ochs was shocked to see the footage. “It was crazy,” she said. “The shark was huge, because you could see all of it happening. The next day I went surfing and I was keeping my feet moving at all times and staying close to everyone.”
The seven-minute YouTube video showed Fanning waiting his turn to surf when a dorsal fin and tail appeared behind him. The shark bit the leash and knocked Fanning off his board into the water.
Fanning was later rescued by lifeguards and taken from the water with only a severed leash, according to AP.
Fanning said to reporters at the competition, “I started getting pulled under water and then the thing came up and started getting my board and I was right there, the whole thing just thrashing around.”
According to an interview with shark expert Andy Casagrande by Outside News, it was not really a shark attack but an investigation by the shark. The key that saved Fanning’s life was his leash.
Casagrande shared with Outside, “I’ve seen this time and time again with sharks. When they touch a rope-tethered to a cage you’re in or an anchor line, they react immediately. It’s like someone pouring cold water down your back. You want to get away.”
Shark attacks don’t happen often in Hawaii. CNN reported one death this year in which a woman in Maui was found dead with injuries suggesting she was attacked by a shark. There were only two other shark attacks this year, one on the Big Island and another on Maui, according to the Department of Land and Natural Resources website.
The last shark attack that happened in Oahu was in July of 2013 near Kalaeloa, according to DLNR.
It is very rare for a shark to bite humans, according to DLNR, and the chances of being bit by a shark in Hawaii are less than one in a million. The chances of being seriously injured are far less than that.
There are three dangerous sharks species: the tiger, great white, and bull shark. Tiger sharks are common around Hawaii, while great whites are rarely seen and bull sharks do not appear at all.
Other students had different reactions. “My first reaction was that I was a little jealous because I love sharks and I want to hug them all,” said Paige Knight, a sophomore studying biochemistry from California.
“I think that’s cool that he had an encounter with one. The surfer reacted really well defending himself against it. The camera kind of goes out a little bit so you can see people in the boats come. That’s how it should be because a lot of times attacks can be prevented if people reacted quickly, and they did a good job in this case.”
Mark Gerber, a sophomore studying supply chain management from Nevada, commented that Fanning was really “lucky to not be injured. It made me more aware to be careful of sharks when I’m out there in the water.”
According to The Guardian, Fanning donated the show’s $75,000 appearance fee he got from “60 Minutes” to fellow Australian surfer Matthew Lee, who had been attacked by a shark on July 2 and has had surgery since and remains in the hospital.