“My reaction then was to grab my board, and
put myself completely in the impact zone, get
smashed to smithereens and go to shore.”
Mike had dodged a bullet and had he been
laying on his board instead of sitting, the results
most likely would have been horrific. A few
weeks later, Mick Fanning would find himself in
an eerily similar position, floating in the water
next to his own large great white shark and
making his own split-second decisions. The
difference this time would be that it was being
telecast live to millions around the world.
“
The last thing on my mind was, you
know, having a shark ... all of a sudden
I just felt something - a presence or
something behind me - and that’s
when I sort of jumped on my board. It
just came up and went for the tail of
my board, but then ... I don’t know why
it didn’t bite or whatever, my board’s
totally fine too - Mick Fanning
We’re sure that every single person with internet
access on the planet are familiar with Mick’s
encounter in South Africa and have drawn their
own conclusions - we’ve never seen so many
keyboard experts and armchair biologists
chime in on any single thing in human history.
If the shark really wanted to attack Fanning, it
would have. A mysterious entanglement with
a curious predator was the more plausible
explanation and situation, but that doesn’t
diminish for a second from the reality that Mick
Fanning was so close to such critical danger,
and that he too dodged a bullet.
The coverage of Mick’s encounter, in high
definition live broadcast, presented its own
agonising situation for viewers, as we were
forced to wait what seemed like an eternity to
finally see Mick, and Julian Wilson, on the back
of jetskis and unharmed. Camera angles and
some quick-thinking live switches ensured that
no matter how the event played out, the world
wasn’t going to see the last moments of Mick
Fanning. It turns out they might have been his
finest moments as he literally punched the
shark into submission, or at least startled it
enough to flee.
It doesn’t matter what we call it, an attack,
an encounter, a love bite or accident - it only
matters what Mick experienced, and he can
call it whatever he wants because it was him
out there punching a super predator and
fighting for his safety - not us.
Chaos ensued for a few minutes as Mick
immediately began recounting his experience
to Peter Mel and a camera crew on the awaiting
boat - the shark presumably still swimming
around somewhere beneath them. The rest, as
they say, is history.
30