Video of the shark encounter courtesy of World Surf League at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa.
It was unbelievably heroic to see pro surfer Julian Wilson paddling over and try to save fellow competitor Mick Fanning from a shark encounter. Wilson, as a rival in the same heat, saw the entire scenario of the shark encounter unfold and, yet, his first immediate reaction was to paddle over and act to save his friend.
It reminded us the open water swimming friends of Steven Robles after his shark encounter along Manhattan Beach in Southern California last year.
When a shark is seen during a surfing competition or a training swim, what do surfers and ocean swimmers do? What should they do? What is the best advice?
These two incidences seem to indicate that surfers and swimmers both instinctively act in the best interests of their aquatic colleagues.
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