Holy shit! Mick Fanning did not suffer any serious injury, but this shark got entirely too close for comfort during the final of the J-Bay open in South Africa. The clip is short, but you can see the fin pop up out of the water just a few feet behind Fanning and once he realized what was going on, he tried to get away. The shark was thrashing around and actually hit Fanning in the face, knocking him off his board. Officials quickly reacted and got Fanning out of the water.
Thank goodness he's OK, but there should never be a moment in anyone's life where they are forced to think back and say "I just saw fins. I was waiting for the teeth."h/t @BirdLawDS'I was just sitting there and I felt something just get stuck in my leg rope, and I was kicking trying to get it away' said Fanning of the encounter.
'I just saw fins. I was waiting for the teeth.'
The surfer wasn't injured in the near-miss and says he managed to 'get a punch into its back'.