While the crowd was enthused watching the J-Bay Open competition in South Africa, three-times surfing world champion Mick Fanning suddenly was attacked by a shark!
The whole incident was captured on television, with one of the commentators saying “Oh shit” as Fanning was briefly dragged under water. Luckily, rescue boats were quick to attend the scene, scaring off the shark and taking the Australian surfer to safety.
Also, Fanning’s mum watched “terrified” on live television as her son was attacked by a shark in South African waters.
“All of [a] sudden, I just had this instinct that something was behind me,” said Fanning when speaking to the World Surf League website. “And then all of a sudden, I felt like I started getting pulled under water. Then the [shark] came up, and I was on my board and it was like right there, and I saw the whole thing thrashing around […] I was getting dragged under by my leg [rope], and then I felt like it kicked me off, but it was still there, and I was still attached to my board. I felt like it was dragging me under water, and then my leg rope broke, and I started swimming and screaming.”
The rest of the event was cancelled by the World Surf League, with Wilson and Fanning both agreeing to take second place in the competition and split the prize money.
Thankfully, Mick Fanning is unharmed.
Fanning, 34 was competing at an event in Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape on Sunday when a black fin appeared behind him. He punched and kicked the shark and was soon rescued by a jet-ski.
Watch entire video of the incident-
