World Surf League events may never be the same again following the shark attack on Mick Fanning at South Africa’s Jeffreys Bay.
League commissioner Kieren Perrow says the whole competition is still in a state of shock nearly 24 hours after Fanning had to beat off a large shark, believed to be a Great White, during Sunday’s final of the J-Bay Open.
The three-time world champion had to punch the shark on its back and use his board as a shield before rescue teams could pluck him and fellow Australian Julian Wilson from the water.
Perrow was on the beach at the time of the incident and says while the rescue teams did a great job, clearly the situation could have been so much worse.
“Certainly it will give us an opportunity to sit down and re-evaluate more the safety side of what we do,” Perrow told AAP.
“We’ve had pretty good plans in place. Everything yesterday was well executed but it doesn’t really address the deterrent side of things as much as coming into the future will allow us too.
“The technologies are getting better, shark deterrent technologies are researching into how that kind of thing is possible because that’s really the safest way to protect, not just our athletes while they’re competing, but surfers in general.”
Perrow said athletes and staff had spent most of the evening supporting Fanning and Wilson.
Fanning has begun his journey home to the Gold Coast and Perrow said it was unclear at this stage whether the 34-year-old would be in the right frame of mind to compete at the next tour event in Tahiti starting on August 14.
“It’s probably the last thing on his mind,” Perrow said.
“He wants to get back and spend time with his family and then they’ll make a decision after that.
“Mick’s a really strong guy and a great person and he’ll probably be able, after he’s had some time to get through the emotion and the whole situation, he’ll re-evaluate and decide what to do.”
Perrow said a decision on the future of the Jeffreys Bay event was a discussion for another time.
He said the South African stop isn’t the only location on the tour with a reputation for sharks.
“Being able to have a solution that not just works here but everywhere would be pretty incredible,” he said.
“We’ll spend some time doing that and then review what it means for the future.”
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