World Surf League Raglan: Event placed on maintain as photographer injured in wildlife encounter

“At this stage we’re not certain if it was a shark or a sea lion. The doctor that was here helping on the scene was inclined to think it was a sea lion instead of a shark.

“Nevertheless, very scary. Italo and Yago were very shaken. They saw the splash and the incident, so another reason to put the event on hold.

“Hopefully we can wrap the event today.”

Sloane, of Australia, was photographing the warmth on the within of the break, and appeared to get the eye of the 2 surfers within the water halfway via the warmth.

While the incident was not seen on the printed, Dora and Ferreira saved glancing down the break – away from the place the waves had been breaking – within the moments earlier than the warmth was placed on maintain.

In a press release, WSL mentioned the photographer was in a secure situation.

“Today, at 8.26am, a member of our photography team suffered a wildlife injury in the water while photographing the men’s semi-finals. Event medical teams responded immediately, and the individual is in stable condition and received on-site medical attention before being transported to the hospital.

“Their safety, and the safety of our staff and competitors, are our priority, and we will provide updates as further information becomes available.”

The maintain deflated what was shaping as much as be a cracking morning for finals day.

The day began with the primary males’s semi-final, the place Australian Morgan Cibilic continued to indicate his class on the partitions of Manu Bay towards American Griffin Colapinto.

Cibilic, who eradicated Kiwi Billy Stairmand within the opening spherical of the competitors, posted a pair of seven.67 rides for a formidable 15.34 warmth whole.

In response, Colapinto couldn’t fairly discover the identical success on a tough morning, ending up with a 12.20 warmth whole.

The second warmth of the day between Dora and Ferreira had gotten off to a sluggish begin, with the surfers solely counting one wave every after about quarter-hour of the 35-minute warmth.

The winner will meet Cibilic within the last this afternoon, which follows what must be a spectacular last between in-form surfers Carissa Moore and Sawyer Lindblad.

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports activities crew in 2017, bringing the identical versatility to his protection as he does to his sports activities viewing habits.