Mick Fanning has once again been plucked from the water due to a shark lurking in the waves – in the exact spot he punched one two years ago.
The three-metre great white shark was moving quickly towards Fanning and his opponent Gabriel Medina, forcing their quarter-final to be put on hold.
Unlike last time when he was close enough to get into a boxing match, Fanning didn’t catch a glimpse of the shark until he was recapping the action later, and it’s safe to say he was impressed.
“That is huge,” Fanning shouted.
“Look at that thing, that thing is a beast, at least they saw this one. I am glad they got us out of the water.
“Those things are just submarines, however long they are, the roundness of them as well … they are big, big beasts.”
Due to the shark being 600 – 700m away from the final, Fanning said he wasn’t panicked but he could definitely see the funny side of his ability to attract sharks – once he was on the boat and out of danger.
It may not just be Fanning who bring the big fish running, with a mako spotted just 90m from Filipe Toledo while he surfed against Julian Wilson – the other surfer in the water during Fanning’s infamous 2015 attack.
Unfortunately, defending champion Fanning didn’t come away with a win after the disruption, blaming his own errors and his competitor’s return to his former glory for his struggle to pick up good scores.
“I picked the right turn at the wrong time on the first wave, then got a lip in the head on the second wave and kneed myself in the face,” he said.
“Gabe is getting more bite out there now … I felt for a little while he was flat on the water but now he is back to his old self again.”
He may not be able to put it on the mantelpiece, but old Shark-Bait Fanning must be stoked that he didn’t have to fight another shark just to make it out alive.
