Surfing etiquette: Don't talk about sharks

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – Just a couple months ago seven great white sharks circulated the water off of Sunset Beach in Huntington Beach, the same water that this week is hosting elite amateur and pro surfers in the nine-day-long Vans U.S Open, the world’s largest surf competition. With the July 19^th shark attack on Australian professional surfer Mick Fanning during the J-Bay Open in South Africa, the report of shark sitings was a topic that early-round competitors would prefer not to think about.

“It’s every surfer's nightmare,” said Taylor Corbin a California-native surfer, “and you’re watching that happen live. You’re not just watching something happen on Discovery Channel. It definitely shook me up personally, and it’s definitely something that’s on your head, but you don’t like thinking about it, and something you definitely don’t bring up out there.”

Mahina Maeda, a 17-year-old world junior champion, said she has encountered two sharks before. Maeda spoke cautiously about sharks, and was equally unnerved by Fanning’s encounter with one.

“I was pretty astonished," said Maeda, who is regarded as one of the world’s most fearless big-wave surfers. "I was on the other side of the world, so of course we had been sleeping. He encountered the shark, and it was pretty scary to even see that. Especially because he’s a role model to look up to and you don’t want to see that happen to anyone like that."

While Maeda hasn’t seen any sharks along Huntington Beach, she has seen them before.“I haven’t really touched one. But I’ve seen one out when I was surfing, twice,” Maeda said.

Both Maeda and Corbin said there aren’t any formal lessons given to tour competitors on shark safety.

Maeda calls it an “instinct.”

“I think its just an instinct to paddle in," she said. "We all know what a shark does and they mistake the person or surfer for a fish.”

Corbin remembers going though surfing lessons and listening to the question pop up, “What happens if I see a shark?”

“They don’t even know what to answer… hit him on the nose, stay calm," Corbin said. "It’s something we don’t want to talk about a lot."

While the surfers may not want to talk about sharks, from below their wetsuits mirror a silhouette of a seal, making them a tempting meal, especially when the lighting is limited, like mornings or dusk.

The appearance of sharks has been rising over the years, reported National Geographic in a recent interview with George Burgess, the director of shark research at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville and the curator of the International Shark Attack File. When asked about whether shark attacks will rise in the coming years, Burgess said, “Yes. We can reasonably predict that it will continue, as long as human populations continue to rise and more people keep going into the water.”

A surf competition like the Vans U.S. Open of Surfing definitely has a lot of people in the water, and just this past May the same waters were cleared out after lifeguards and marine researchers tagged seven great whites, the LA Times reported.

While no one was attacked, the possibility of being bitten is on the minds of people everywhere. While Fanning reacted bravely – he said he "punched" the shark in the back to scare it away – not all cases go this way.

Maeda recalled an incident when she was in the water when a shark jumped up beside her and snatched a turtle.

“I was out surfing my favorite break," she explained. "I was pretty scared."

If a shark scares Mahina, it must be pretty scary, considering this is the girl who surfed some of the biggest waves in the world in Nazare, Portugal. These waves reach up to 100 feet and are surfed by world record holders ... and this 16-year-old.

The cancellation of the tour event in South Africa brought universal attention to shark attacks, particularly on surfers.

"We kind of coexist with sharks in the water," World Surf League’s executive director Paul Speaker said after the attack on Fanning. "We go to places that certainly have the greatest waves in the world. But it comes with some danger," Speaker told CNN.