Mick, the Shark(s) and a Dilemma for Professional Surfing
Watching the live stream of the final of the J-Bay Open was a nightmare. No it literally was; it was exactly what every surfer fears deep in the pits of their stomachs whenever they are in waters that are dark, murky and carrying a ‘reputation’.
The attack was seemingly from out of nowhere, and as quickly as it occurred it had ceased, except for the seconds of dread that followed until both Julian Wilson and Mick Fanning were safe on board the evidently impotent ‘SharkWatch’ vessels at the event (tasked with the impossible duty of protecting the surfers from shark attacks).
Don’t get me wrong, the boats responded quickly and the surfers were removed from the water efficiently and professionally. But let’s be honest with ourselves: if that shark had hit it’s mark better, Mick Fanning would now be dead, or at best missing a limb or two. The ‘SharkWatch’ vessels were good at reacting to the attack, but they in no way deterred it, or would have been very helpful if the attack had played out differently.
Let’s be clear on a couple of things too before the obvious calls for nets and shark culling gets bandied about (as usual):
1. Sharks live in the oceans, not us; and
2. You have a 1 in 63 chance of dying from the flu and a 1 in 3,700,000 chance of being killed by a shark during your lifetime.
Let’s ponder that last statistic for a moment:
You have a 1 in 3.7 million chance of being fatally attacked by a shark in your entire lifetime
Obviously Mick Fanning came close enough to become an unfortunate and improbable statistic, destined to be used on National Geographic’s website (where that nifty statistic was referenced) ever more. But at the end of the day, what happened on computer screens, tablets and smart phones the world over, was an exceptionally rare event.
The decision to call the contest off and split the prize-money and points between the finalists seemed like a good idea as the adrenaline was still pumping. But, it may not have been the most rational decision, and does present a few dilemmas that professional surfing needs to address moving forward, namely:
1. Was it right for the WSL to call off the event at all?
2. Because J-Bay has a reputation for dangerous shark activity (but then again, so does most of South Africa and Australia for that matter) should it be excluded from the tour?
3. Should the WSL (and the whole surfing industry) invest in and develop personal shark deterrents and repellents for its athletes to wear in certain shark ‘hotspots’?
To lower the temperature on this (and because everyone on planet earth loves Mick Fanning) the facts are these: the likelihood of another attack happening even 5 minutes after this particular attack on Mick Fanning would have been just as improbable as the first (1 in 3 700 00), and even before the attack took place the odds were the same.
So it begs the first question of:
Was it the right call for the WSL to cancel the event at all?
In my opinion, in the aftermath of the attack, it was right to put the contest on hold at least for a couple of days so that Mick and Julian could be treated for shock, as well as to allow them to get their heads straight for the final. I can speak for myself and admit that, in the rare events that I have been in the company of the boys in the grey suits, I have not been exactly ‘keen’ to paddle back out directly. I understand the need to put everything on hold and address the needs (physical and emotional) of those affected.
But to call the event off all together sets a dangerous precedent that cannot be sustained if we want a thing called professional surfing to exist at all.
The facts remain that sharks ARE everywhere, we don’t see them coming when we are unlucky enough to be attacked (as was the case with Mick Fanning, and the boys on ‘SharkWatch’), and the probability of ever being fatally attacked during our individual lifetimes is currently 1 in 3.7 million. To hold a view contrary to these facts is delusional, and if a governing body for a sport, which is practiced in an environment that is well-known to be the habitat of big sharks (that very rarely bite) decides to call off an event when one does decide to have a go (and fails), then the sport of surfing is in trouble.
This is not J-Bay’s Fault (as much as it is not Pipeline’s, or Tahiti’s fault for killing people either)
J-Bay is a dream wave that many of us have imagined ourselves gliding along since early childhood. Whether it was from seeing the reeling rights on a Bruce Brown film, the swooping attack of Shawn Thompson, or Tom Curren’s famous first-time dominance of the break (or his complete dominance of the wave last year), we all love the wave and appreciate the place it holds in our collective surfing culture.
Just like when you paddle out at your local beach break that is next to the local estuary early in the morning for a few waves before work, the locals at J-Bay understand the risks and each and every morning they decide that the risks are worth the rewards (a well calculated risk given the 1 in 3.7 million probability of fatal attack). We all take our lives into our own hands when we decide to paddle out anywhere, and we all equally enjoy the rewards associated with those risks between the times we enter the water and when we are drying our wet feet in the car park afterwards.
But maybe ‘dangerous’ surfing locations like Pipeline and Tahiti are different from ‘dangerous’ surf locations like J-Bay and WA because of how we like to see ourselves as above nature and not a part of it. The idea of someone dying on the ‘big wave’ in a Bhodi-esque fashion (that was a Point Break reference, and not a Buddhist one), is acceptable to us because we see it as a ‘fair fight’.
When we see our heroes ‘battling’ against heavy barrels at Teahupoo and wiping out horrendously, we applaud and are on the edges of our office chairs. We even reward the person who risks their life the most with the Andy Irons Award! Yet, death by shark attack is seen as ‘unfair’ and almost likened to a ‘coward’s punch’ on the high seas: being hunted and struck without warning doesn’t afford us powerful humans the chance to exert our mighty forces over our foes (sharks) in nature, as if we would have a chance anyway.
I mean, who didn’t detest stingrays the world over after one of these sneaky bastards killed Steve Irwin? The flat-headed pricks…
Maybe J-Bay is doomed to be the wrong kind of ‘dangerous’ and that our self-delusional dominion over the marine environment can never be allowed to be called into question. Yes, J-Bay has a higher incidence of shark activity, but clearly in light of this event, no amount of blokes in boats are going to stop a fatality. Now that we can all appreciate that fact, the question remains to be asked: Is there anything we can do to reduce the risk of shark attack at all? And can we accept that we are actually vulnerable in the oceans?
We can start to get serious about embracing technology to avoid shark attack
There are very smart people trying to find ways to reduce the risks of shark attack for surfers and myriad other ocean-enthusiasts.
Shark Shield has developed the SURF7 electronic shark deterrent system, which can be attached to the back of your surfboard and ward off sharks through electronic interference with nosy sharks.
Tom Carrol is even listed on their website as being a team rider:
Shark Attack Mitigation Services has developed a range of products that seek to make surfers either invisible or unpalatable to sharks, in effect removing us surfers from the menu by stealth.
Whilst both of these companies are still developing their wares for the market, they are promising and ought to be facilitated by surfers, the industry at large and the professional body that represents surfing in further developing their innovative products.
Rather than reinforce the facade of protection from shark attack a la ‘men in boats’ (which clearly doesn’t stop shark attacks from occurring), the WSL could partner with either one of these companies and insist on riders using these products at events where the risks of attack are higher (such as WA and J-Bay). They could also encourage the mainstream surfing industry to throw financial and technical support behind these innovations to help see them develop faster and have a higher market penetration (which would allow them to continue innovating and refine their products’ efficacy).
The surfing industry, and the people who have been paid decent money to nudge us into buying things that are the ‘coolest’ each and every season has delivered innovations in style and performance year after year. But what it has failed to do yet is to develop products and services that truly keep us safer in the water (aside from inflatable surf vests for Shane Dorian and his crazy mates). Maybe it is about time that the innovative and productive capacity of the surfing industry was focused on the safety of those who enter the water, from their highest paid world champions to us average punters happy with a head-dip. After all, what is the worst that could happen? (Aside from what just happened at J-Bay, only a little worse, and fatal).
A decision to put the contest on hold so that the riders had a chance to be treated for shock and to gather their composure for the final would have been the right thing to do. The decision to cancel the event completely was a very bad decision for all competitive watersports that use the oceans as their arenas. By making the call to cancel the event, professional surfing has put itself on a slippery slope, and it is anyone’s guess as to where it will end.
If professional surfing wants to do anything meaningful about protecting it’s athletes from the very improbable risk of shark attack, then it needs to spend less money on creating an ‘atmosphere’ of safety (with a team on ‘SharkWatch’) and spend time, money and energy developing and testing real deterrents with scientific backing.
A failure to react rationally and proactively to this very disturbing, heart-stopping, nightmare-ish, and thankfully non-fatal unlikelihood could see the whole sport and industry of surfing descend into absurd ignominy. So rather than get on the bandwagon about how sharks are monsters etc, let’s have an educated and intelligent discussion about what we can realistically do about minimizing the risks, accept that we are a part of nature and all of its vicissitudes and see professional surfing flourish and, well, act professionally and intelligently.
Finally, let’s hope that this near miss only makes Mick Fanning’s march towards glory stronger and more dominant! He is the legendary Australian surfer that we all can’t help but love.
