Autumn in Western Australia has proven over and over again to be a risky proposition for surfers. So Jason Longgrass is one lucky man. From the looks of this footage he avoided serious injury or worse. Longgrass still underwent surgery to repair a “60 centimter gash” in his right leg. He was the second shark attack victim that day in Western Australia. Alejandro Travaglini, an Argentinian, was mauled at a separate break and also underwent surgery.
Longgrass was reportedly told to leave the water by authorities but continued surfing. He aggressively fought back during the attack and has said publicly he doesn’t support a shark cull. His attitude in interviews was actually pretty refreshing. “It was just heading straight for me, beelining it straight at me,” he said. “I went to slap the water, by then he made a sudden acceleration and just nailed the board. It wasn’t looking at me it was looking at the board.”
The two attacks lead the WSL to put the Margaret River Pro on hold and some competitors–Gabriel Medina and Italo Ferreira–expressed concern about athletes’ safety. You can view the full report from the Perth media, here.
Update: The Margaret River Pro, part of the World Surf League’s championship tour, has been suspended indefinitely.
