Big wave, small man

Spanish big wave surfer Axi Muniain drops in on a large wave at Praia do Norte in Nazare, Portugal, Wednesday. The Nazaré coast of Portugal is home to some of the world's biggest waves. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Shark attacks 65-year-old surfer in Australia

SYDNEY - A veteran surfer escaped with foot and arm injuries after a great white shark rammed his board and dragged him underwater off Australia's east coast on Thursday.

The 65-year-old managed to swim ashore and raise the alarm, before being airlifted to hospital in a stable condition.

"The surfer received puncture wounds to his foot and his arm," New South Wales state police said of the incident at Seven Mile Beach near Forster, 300 kilometers (180 miles) north of Sydney.

The state's department of primary industries, which attended the scene, tweeted that "specialists have confirmed the shark involved in an incident off Booti Booti National Park this morning was a white shark".

The Newcastle Herald reported it measured up to 3.5 meters (11 feet), with pictures showing a large chunk bitten off the man's board, which split in half.

Westpac rescue helicopter crewman Graham Nickerson said the surfer told him he was with friends when the shark hit him from underneath.

"Apparently the shark came up under his board, snapped his board in two and then dragged him under by the leg rope," Nickerson told reporters.

"He's quite happy... considering what he's been through, but he's got pretty severe lacerations to his lower limbs, but he's in a stable condition."

The beach has been closed until further notice.

The attack is the latest off the New South Wales coast in recent months, with a surfer sustaining cuts to his leg just weeks ago while in the water near popular tourist spot Byron Bay.

Experts say shark attacks are increasing as water sports become more popular and bait fish move closer to shore, but fatalities remain rare.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Another Australian surfer dies in Indonesia: police

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A second Australian in little more than a week has died during a surf trip to Indonesia's famed Mentawai Islands, police confirmed Thursday.

Adam Albert Dube was found dead on Wednesday morning after vanishing during an ocean swim with friends the night before.

Mentawai police chief Reko Indro Sasongko said the group of 10 arrived at the popular surf spot off the west coast of Sumatra island late Tuesday.

After drinking aboard their boat, they decided around midnight to go for a swim, Sasongko said.

"After an hour they returned to the boat, but only nine showed up. Dube was not there," he told AFP.

A search ensued for the missing Australian but he wasn't found until Wednesday morning. His body was taken immediately to Padang city on Sumatra island, Sasongko said.

His death comes shortly after another Australian, 54-year-old Ronald Stephen Schneider, was killed after being smashed onto rocks in heavy surf at the Mentawais last week.

The world famous reef breaks off the Sumatra coast are a mecca for surfers, especially Australians, seeking its fabled barreling waves.

Sasongko said police had been warning visiting surfers to be extra vigilant during the dry season months, when wave sizes peak and conditions are particularly dangerous.

"Not only are the currents strong and the waves large, but there are many whirlpools that cannot be seen when in the water but are noticeable from above," he said.

"Those are very dangerous."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Who is Mick Fanning, shark-beating surfer

SYDNEY -- Australian surfer Mick Fanning, who survived a terrifying encounter with a shark while competing in South Africa, has experienced both triumph and tragedy on his way to three world championships.

His dream to make the pro tour was one he shared with his older brother Sean. But he was forced to carry on alone when his sibling was killed in a car accident on the way home from a party.

The then 17-year-old Fanning had been offered a lift in the same car but chose to walk home that night. He has said that his brother has always been in his thoughts, particularly when he does well at surf events.

"Sean and I were going to do the pro tour together; that was our dream," he said in his 2009 memoir "Surf For Your Life." "A lot of the time I feel like he's with me when I travel and compete."

Fanning made the tour less than four years after his brother's death and was noticed from the start, finishing fifth and being named as the ASP Rookie of the Year in 2002.

The following year he ended fourth but his meteoric rise was interrupted in 2004 due to injury.

The surfer from Tweed Heads on the New South Wales far north coast had ripped his hamstring off the bone while surfing in Indonesia, an injury which could have ended his career.

But he bounced back to take the world title from Kelly Slater in 2007 -- the first Australian to grab the title since Mark Occhilupo in 1999 -- and won his second title two years later.

In 2013, he collected his third world title and last year was runner-up.

But self-preservation rather than honors were on his mind on Sunday, when he punched the estimated 10-foot shark.

"Mick had the survival mechanism to punch the shark to keep himself alive," Australian surf champion Layne Beachley told the Nine Network.

"He's very fortunate. No one in their wildest dreams would think this would happen."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

WATCH: Shark attacks surfer live on TV

A video of Australian professional surfer Michael Eugene "Mick" Fanning being attacked by a shark in the middle of a tournament has gone viral online.

Fanning is seen in the video calmly riding his surfboard in the middle of the J-Bay Open competition held in South Africa when a shark came out of nowhere.

The surfer escaped unharmed as rescuers quickly ran onto the scene. Authorities immediately put the competition on hold after the attack.

In an interview after the incident, Fanning said he managed to punch the shark in the head before he started kicking and shouting for help.

Fanning is a triple word champion. He won the 2007, 2009 and 2013 ASP World Tour.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com