



Something needs to be done on Reunion Island. There's been 20 shark attacks in the past six years with eight fatalities, the latest yesterday when a 26-year-old bodyboarder was killed.

Some beaches on the island are protected with shark nets and reasonably safe to surf. Over on the east side, it's prohibited waters and it was here that a local shark spotter, nicknamed Crapo was killed while bodyboarding at a river mouth. Now, Kelly Slater has weighed in on the situation calling for serious action and a regular targeted cull.

Jeremy Flores yesterday paid tribute to the victim via Instagram and it's here where Kelly lays it all out. The champ said: ''Honestly, I won't be popular for saying this but there needs to be a serious cull on Reunion and it should happen every day.

''There is a clear imbalance happening in the ocean there. If the whole world had these rates of attack nobody would use the ocean and literally millions of people would be dying like this. The French govt needs to figure this out asap. 20 attacks since 2011!?''

Another young passionate brother gone too soon, very sad... Make sure you score some perfect barrels up there with all the legends #RIP #Krapo #reunionisland #SharkAttack #AttaqueDeRequin Toutes mes condoléances à la famille :( A post shared by Jeremy Flores (@floresjeremy) on Feb 21, 2017 at 4:48am PST

J-Flo's never shy of speaking out. The fiery CT competitor's been known to charge a judges' tent. But in a response to Kelly, he agrees with his former Quiksilver teammate and calls for haters to try and understand Reunion's situation.

He said: ''Like you said. Réunion is clearly different than any other place in the world in relation of sharks.

''Our problem here are the bullsharks, they are killing everything including many different protected species of shark. Unfortunately it feels like it's difficult for people to understand the issues we are having here.

''People are dying one after another and for some, this sounds normal but it really isn't. The community of Réunion island surfers are naturally ocean and environment lovers for many generations but things are getting really serious and we are tired of crying [for] our brothers.

''It's time for unity to protect our small coast. Thank you for your comment, it gives hope that somebody who knows so well the environment is understanding the nightmare we are living here. And to all the other haters, please try to understand our situation here before giving a blind opinion.''

Agree or disagree, things aren't right on Reunion and perhaps there are no easy answers.