Margaret River Pro Cancelled due to Shark Attack Risk??
Over cautious or do Surfers need to harden up?
Today the WSL Margaret River Pro was cancelled due to the shark attacks that occurred only 6 kilometres away over the past few days. Some of the competition surfers, particularly the Brazillian surfers Gabriel Medina and Italio Ferrira, expressed their fear that something might occur if the competition continued.....
Organisers subsequently cancelled the competition after a lay day due to poor surf yesterday which has raised some questions about the future viability of the event at Margaret River.
This has raised the question of whether some surfers on the World Tour have no 'Kahuna's'!
They will willingly charge huge waves yet when a few sharks come around, they shit their dacks and cry until the competition is cancelled. I find it very surprising that the WSL cancelled the competition rather than postponing it for a few days. The competition organisers have a wide array of tools and equipment at their disposal to monitor the competition area for sharks. With jet-skis and helicopters on hand, surely they could have scanned the area for a shark's presence before each heat? Being in the surf includes the risk of a shark attack, and as local retired pro Taj Burrow stated:
"Probably the [big] waves they surfed on the first day of the event were a lot riskier than the possibility of a shark attack. "It's just one of the things that comes with surfing and competing in the ocean. "It's obviously safer in the competition area because they've got a few options for spotting sharks. It's very well monitored."
It now has me questioning whether the world's best surfers are a little soft. There were no sharks spotted in the competition area and the cancellation of the event will have a devastating effect on the local economy, not to mention what happens to the rankings and results from a cancelled event?
What do you think? Should they have cancelled the event due to a perceived 'elevated shark attack risk'?
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To be honest, they have every reason to fear the unknown. When surfing by myself, the mind can play many tricks out in open water and you can quickly begin to feel uneasy. I surf everyday and know the risk and it is a very low risk. Nevertheless, sharks will always scare the hell out of me and if there have been sightings I will stay out because no one enjoys feeling uneasy. Surfing is about enjoying yourself and not having the biggest gonads ;) I would have surfed in the comoetition personally but everyone has the right to be fearful of sharks. In my opinion the competition should have continued and if surfers decide to pull out, it is their own choice.
Yeah I agree. Thanks for the response.
I'm surprised no one has created a sonar buoy that would deter sharks from entering certain areas. Would have massive commercial applications in fish farming as well as protecting beach goers.
Sharks have always been the worst human fear. Ocean is too deep and sharks are not the true dangers like medusas or animals cute as mortal
Maybe they should wear fluro wetsuits or something so the shark can't mistake them for a seal XD Have sharks previously been a problem at surfing competitions? They not bothered by the amount of noise?