JAWS

Pro Surfer Escapes Shark Attack at Event

J-Bay Open canceled in South Africa.

Australian surfing champion Mick Fanning narrowly escaped a shark attack on live television during the final heat at a competition in South Africa's Jefferys Bay on Sunday. Officials canceled the remainder of the J-Bay Open, the sixth stop on the 2015 Samsung Galaxy World Surf League Championship, after the attack. "I had this feeling that something was behind [me], and all of a sudden I felt like I started getting pulled underwater. And then the thing came up and I was on my board and it was right there," he said. Fellow opponent Julian Wilson paddled toward Fanning to help after spotting the shark. Fanning said he punched the shark twice and swam to safety where crews pulled him and Wilson from the water. Renato Hickel, an official with the Association of Surfing Professionals told the World Surf League that Fanning was actually attacked by two sharks, not just the one that appears in the video.