--- title: Shark Attack Surfer Mick Fanning Heads Back to the Waves description: Just a week after fighting off a shark during a surf competition, Mick Fanning is hitting the waves again canonical: https://time.com/3972991/shark-attack-mick-fanning/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-27T12:59:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:13.743Z og:title: Shark Attack Surfer Mick Fanning Heads Back to the Waves og:description: Just a week after fighting off a shark during a surf competition, Mick Fanning is hitting the waves again og:url: https://time.com/3972991/shark-attack-mick-fanning/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74a55714178baa8c/69885c8e0a4a2201279c550d/gettyimages-481378396.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1920 og:image:height: 1080 og:image:alt: J-Bay Open Surfing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Shark Attack Surfer Mick Fanning Heads Back to the Waves twitter:description: Just a week after fighting off a shark during a surf competition, Mick Fanning is hitting the waves again twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74a55714178baa8c/69885c8e0a4a2201279c550d/gettyimages-481378396.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Shark Attack Surfer Mick Fanning Heads Back to the Waves > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jul 27, 2015 12:59 PM UTC  In this screen grab from footage by the World Surf League, Mick Fanning of Australia shortly before being attacked by a Shark at the Jbay Open on July 19, 2015 in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. In this screen grab from footage by the World Surf League, Mick Fanning of Australia shortly before being attacked by a Shark at the Jbay Open on July 19, 2015 in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. WSL/Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jul 27, 2015 12:59 PM UTC Just a week after fighting off a shark during a surf competition, Mick Fanning is hitting the waves again. The Australian surfer was pictured getting back on his board at Snapper Rocks near the Gold Coast on Monday morning, the [Daily Mail](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3175605/Australian-surfer-Mick-Fanning-catches-wave-week-horrific-shark-attack-South-Africa.html) reports, just days after he narrowly avoided a massive shark in the J-Open at Jeffreys Bay in South Africa last Sunday. Fanning posted a photo of himself to his Instagram account with the caption “First surf back. Feels so good.” Last week, Fanning was on his board when a shark came from behind and attacked Fanning, who says he punched it on the nose. The shark retreated and Fanning emerged unharmed. “To walk away from a shark attack with not a scratch on you. It’s a miracle really,” Fanning said. \[[Daily Mail](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3175605/Australian-surfer-Mick-Fanning-catches-wave-week-horrific-shark-attack-South-Africa.html)\] ### Three Shark Photographers You Need to Follow  The water column is a three-dimensional habitat for sharks. Instead of traveling horizontally across the ocean, many species, like blacktip sharks, bounce up and down, repeatedly descending and ascending through the water column, in hopes of picking up any signs of prey. Aliwal Shoal, South Africa. Thomas P. Peschak  A Red Sea Silky Shark. To survive in the vastness of the open ocean, Silky sharks rely on their boldness and curiosity to investigate every opportunity that might yield a meal. Sharks make up for their lack of hands to investigate things, with thousands of tiny pores, called the Ampullae of Lorenzini, which line the shark’s snout. Northern Red Sea. Thomas P. Peschak  The whale shark is the world’s largest fish, born with unique spotted skin patterns, which don’t change significantly as the animal ages. Scientists are using the latest in space technology developed by NASA, for fingerprinting and identifying whale sharks based on their spots. In this image scientists from the conservation NGO Manta Trust are measuring a sub-adult whale shark in Baa Atoll, Maldives. Thomas P. Peschak  Bronze Whaler sharks are the most abundant sharks during the sardine run off South Africa’s east coast every June/July. Hundreds of them patrol the margins of baitballs and charge into the seething mass of fish singly or in small groups to feed. Thomas P. Peschak  Shark fins are the key ingredient of shark fin a soup, a dish frequenlty consumed at weddings and banquets in China. It is primarily served to demonstrate wealth and honor guests. Thomas P. Peschak  Head and gills of Juvenile Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sphyrna Lewini), Kane'ohe Bay, Hawaii - Pacific Ocean. Jeff Rotman  Close-up of Spiny Dogfish Shark (Squalus acanthias) born prematurely with egg sac attached. New England, North Atlantic Jeff Rotman  Gills of a Lemon Shark at night. Jeff Rotman  Eye of Whitetip Reef Shark (Triaenodon obesus), Cocos Island, Costa Rica - Pacific Ocean. Jeff Rotman  Caribbean Reef Shark (Carcharhinus perezi). Bahamas, Caribbean Sea. Jeff Rotman  An image of Mike Coots taken by his friend Juan Oliphant as they are swimming surrounded by sharks. ©JuanOliphant/@Juansharks ![Mike Coots “hangs out” with a great white. As he is frequently asked if he is afraid to go back to the water after the attack, Coots has no doubt: “I am positive I was attacked as mistaken identity and the last couple of days \[swimming with the sharks\] really reiterated the point. Humans are not sharks' prey.”](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45be518944f193a1/6988556755a85964a2a8c966/10693681_566496753497226_1727569935_n.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp) Mike Coots “hangs out” with a great white. As he is frequently asked if he is afraid to go back to the water after the attack, Coots has no doubt: “I am positive I was attacked as mistaken identity and the last couple of days \[swimming with the sharks\] really reiterated the point. Humans are not sharks' prey.” Mike Coots  While babysitting his 6-year-old nephew, the little boy showed the toys to Coots. "It's you uncle Mike," he said. Mike Coots ![Coots has been able to return to surf after the shark attack, wearing a prosthesis for his right leg.
Coots was just a teenager when a tiger shark attacked him in the deep water of Kauai, an area known to be populated by sharks. ](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf51ee2563a1a619f/69885568e20a872b9fa8bee1/10616310_705214359563854_135859936_n.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp) Coots has been able to return to surf after the shark attack, wearing a prosthesis for his right leg. Coots was just a teenager when a tiger shark attacked him in the deep water of Kauai, an area known to be populated by sharks. Mike Coots  Coots took this photograph with Hero3, a waterproof camera. He observed the white shark being hesitant before eating its meal. “Incredibly beautiful to watch and I never felt threatened once. Completely serene,” Coots wrote on his Instagram feed. Mike Coots ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3972991/shark-attack-mick-fanning/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3972991/shark-attack-mick-fanning/"},"headline":"Shark Attack Surfer Mick Fanning Heads Back to the Waves","datePublished":"2015-07-27T12:59:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:47:13.743Z","description":"Just a week after fighting off a shark during a surf competition, Mick Fanning is hitting the waves again","url":"https://time.com/3972991/shark-attack-mick-fanning/","keywords":["Newsfeed"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74a55714178baa8c/69885c8e0a4a2201279c550d/gettyimages-481378396.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt74a55714178baa8c/69885c8e0a4a2201279c550d/gettyimages-481378396.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"J-Bay Open Surfing","caption":"J-Bay Open Surfing","creditText":"WSL/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3972991/shark-attack-mick-fanning/","name":"Shark Attack Surfer Mick Fanning Heads Back to the Waves"}}]}] ```