Mick Fanning has a close encounter when he returns to the ocean after his narrow escape from a shark at. Courtesy 60 Minutes

What happens when Mick Fanning returns to the ocean

MICK Fanning was chased from the water by a shark in his first surf back home since last week’s terrifying brush with a white pointer in South Africa, it has been revealed.

Fanning’s brave return to the waves was filmed by a 60 Minutes crew at Hastings Point on the Tweed Coast on Saturday as his mother Liz watched nervously from the beach.

But a promotional advertisement for the program, being aired on Sunday night, shows the triple world champion frantically scrambling onto a jet ski in the line-up.

From the safety of the sand, a concerned Fanning tells reporter Peter Stefanovic he has just seen a shark.

“There he is, straight out -I just saw it,’’ Fanning tells Stefanovic.

It is believed a rattled Fanning and the 60 Minutes crew then went to another beach to film the rest of the segment.

On the same day Fanning returned to the water, a large shark menaced surfers at his home break of Snapper Rocks on the Queensland/­NSW border.

Ballina beaches were also closed this week after four large sharks were seen lurking off the coast.

On Tuesday, after his third surf back, Fanning told The Courier-­Mail that his confidence was

returning ‘each and every day’.

“The ocean’s a pretty amazing place and it’s just good to be back in the water,’’ he said.

Fanning has announced he will resume competition at the next World Surf League event, the

Billabong Pro in Tahiti, next month.