Surfing history was made this morning when 3x world champion surfer Mick Fanning took on not one, but two great white sharks during the final heat of the World Surfing League’s J-Bay Open in South Africa. Just 7 minutes into his heat against Julian Wilson, one of the sharks pops out of nowhere to approach a casually-floating Mick from behind. Suddenly aware that the fight was no longer against Jules, Mick swings around to engage the first shark, as a second shark then pulls up to Mick’s rear and bumps him off his board.
The next 20 seconds (or lifetime if you’re a Mick) features a nerve-racking amount of splashing, punching and directionless shouting. One of the WSL’s commentators best summed up the situation with a panicked yet softly-spoken “Holy shit.” The WSL was able to quickly rescue the Australian pro surfer via jetski and boat, with the only reported casualty in the form of Mick’s severed leash.
See how it all went down, below.
UPDATE: The WSL has just announced that the J-Bay event has ended in light of this occurrence, and that Mick and Julian will split their collective prize money (we think Mick miiight deserve just a #little #bit #more).
