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Another shark scare at Margaret River Pro

3 minute read

Two competitors were plucked from the water on Sunday after a shark was spotted near the competition area at the Margaret River Pro.

KELLY SLATER of the United States rides a wave into shore during an aerial expression session on Surfsho at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
KELLY SLATER of the United States rides a wave into shore during an aerial expression session on Surfsho at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

The Margaret River Pro has been hit by another shark scare, with the competition briefly put on hold after a sighting near the competition area.

Seth Moniz and Kolohe Andino were picked up by jet skis midway through Sunday's quarter-final showdown after a shark was spotted behind Main Break.

A free surfer was the first to spot the shark, before a drone also saw it.

Competition organisers restarted the heat once they had ensured the shark had moved away from the area.

The incident comes just over a year after the 2018 event was cancelled midway through due to two nearby shark attacks on recreational surfers.

Extra safety measures were included for this year's event.

Shark-monitoring drones have been employed for the first time, while the WA Fisheries Department have been dropping an acoustic receiver in the water each day to detect tagged sharks swimming nearby.

The event was moved from mid-April to late May/early June in order to avoid the annual salmon run.

Andino ended up winning Sunday's heat to move into the semi-finals.

Earlier in the day, Caio Ibelli gained a slice of revenge over Kelly Slater after sending the 11-time world champion packing in the round of 16.

Ibelli, who broke his foot during his last visit to Margaret River, was controversially denied an injury wildcard to stay full-time on the WSL main tour in 2019.

Instead, the wildcards went to two-time world champion John John Florence and surfing legend Slater.

Florence was always going to receive a wildcard for his serious knee injury but there was controversy as to whether Slater deserved his.

Slater cherry-picked events to compete in while getting back to full fitness and chased swells while missing his less-favoured events last year.

Ibelli felt hard done by with the decision.

But the Brazilian came up trumps in their first head-to-head match-up, beating Slater in their round-four encounter to move into the quarter-finals.

"That means so much. He's such a legend. He was my favourite surfer growing up," Ibelli said.

"After that sticky situation we were in last year, I wanted to match up with him and show people I deserve a chance to perform. I was having fun."

Ibelli then beat Jordy Smith to book a semi-final berth against Florence, while Aussie Julian Wilson will take on Andino in the other semi-final.

Australian Stephanie Gilmore crashed out in the quarter-final stage of the women's event, but Sally Fitzgibbons made it through to the semi-final.

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