WSL Photographer Bitten Throughout Contest | Swellnet Dispatch

This morning, as Yago Dora and Italo Ferreira contested their Semi-Final of the New Zealand Pro, a WSL water photographer had his personal battles.

Ed Sloane from Victoria was within the water capturing when he was bitten on the ankle. In fending his assailant off, Ed’s splashes drew the eye of the organisers who sounded the horn and cleared the water.

Protocol dictates that if the horn is sounded the warmth has to go on maintain for thirty minutes, nevertheless given the tide part the WSL determined to carry competitors off for 3 hours, until noon native time.

Ed Sloane, pal of Swellnet, pal to all creatures.

Commentators had been not sure if Ed was bitten by a shark or a seal – shark assaults are uncommon in New Zealand, whereas interactions with seals are extra frequent, and likewise much less extreme.

Reports from the Manu Bay boatramp say Ed had puncture marks on his ankle and his flipper was ripped off. He was taken by ambulance to hospital. The chew marks are according to that of a shark – the likeliest being a sevengill shark.

Sevengill sharks are often cited because the species accountable for almost all of unprovoked shark bites on people in New Zealand. Despite these frequent encounters, in keeping with Wikipedia, “their bites are typically non-fatal and usually result from the shark investigating its surroundings in shallow waters.”

More because it comes.