Assaulted Jeffreys Bay shark still in shock after confrontation with Australian.

WRITTEN BY THE EDITOR ON JULY 19, 2015. POSTED IN SPORTS

Jeffreys Bay is at the best of times a quiet seaside town. This morning though, it seems almost eerie after an incident that happened yesterday has rocked the community to its core.

Famous for its amazing waves, 'J Bay' has for decades seen some of the world's best surfers flock to its 'super tubes', and this previous weekend's J Bay Open was the latest competition bringing this location to the eyes of the world.

It had all been going rather swimmingly as Julian Wilson and Mick Fanning (an Australian) paddled out to contest the final, but then tragedy took place...

You can't see it clearly here, but Australian Mick Fanning blatantly punched a shark multiple times, something he savagely admits to moments after the attack.

Hurt, and naturally a little shaken, I managed to track down the victim of this attack, Hannes the Shark, and he had this to say in the aftermath of the incident...

"As a proud Jeffreys Bay local, I have been a surfing fan for years, and naturally me and all my friends were excited about this year's J Bay Open. We all drew names at the start of the week for a little pool, and to my delight I drew Mick Fanning! So as you would expect, I was over the moon when he made it to the final, and all I wanted was for him to do well..."

With a slight tremble in his voice, Hannes went onto say...

" As usual, we were all under the breakers watching the action, when the inner 'fan boy' in me got the better of me and I went over to Fanning to get him to sign my fin. I mean, once the heat is over, the surfers go back to the beach and we never get to congratulate them, so I took my chance. I swam over, but somehow got snagged in his leash, I tried to break free, and started to apologise, then suddenly, I was getting punched!

As you can see from the clip above, the incident was a short one, but it is very clear from Hannes' views, that this attack may take a lifetime to get over.

"You hear stories about Australians; aggressive, brash, mean... but you try not judge. But the way Fanning attacked me, I now see where the stories come from. I now know what the English go through in the Ashes, these guys are bloody animals. All I wanted was an autograph, I was just being a fan, but I got punched and sworn at! Nobody deserves to be treated this way, someone needs to do something about this!"

Following the attack on Hannes the Shark, the event was called off with the winner's purse being shared by Wilson and Fanning. No further action seems to be planned against Fanning though, and Hannes naturally feels very let down by this.

"You know, it was such a great weekend up to that point. John Smit was in the surf this week and the guys and I were having some fun giving him gears about ruining our rugby team, you know, just some playful fan banter. But that bloody Aussie just ruined it, and I don't know if I will even bother watching the event next year..."

Fanning has failed to issue an apology in the wake of the attack, choosing to play the role of 'victim' in the exchange.

More on this story as it develops.

Tags: jeffreys bay shark attack, j bay shark, mick fanning shark attack, j bay open shark attack