Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen the insane footage of professional surfer, Mick Fanning’s recent encounter with a great white shark. The encounter occurred during the finals of the J-Bay Open, a surf competition that takes place in South Africa. While waiting for his next wave, Fanning had an unwelcome visit from a great white shark, which he says become tangled in the leash which ties the surfboard to the surfers ankle. A pair of jet-ski’s and a safety boat immediately made their way to the surfer, who miraculously survived the encounter without a scratch.

Of course, the incredible story swept the headlines, and a week later is still making waves among the news circuit. It comes as no surprise the bulk of the media attention was placed on Fanning–if he wasn’t a legend among surfers before, he certainly is now; however, there was another man in the water that day who had a very unique perspective of the incident. Kelly Cestari, the official event photographer, had just swam out to the lineup about 30 minutes before the ordeal took place.

In an interview with the World Surf League, Cestari described how the shark encounter appeared from the his position in the water, near the holding area for the safety boats. At first, Cestari says he wasn’t fully aware of what was going because his eye was still in photographer mode.[Read More…]