The Mick Fanning shark encounter in South Africa Sunday has many fans concerned about the professional surfer. However, according to experts, the media's portrayal of the Mick Fanning's shark encounter has put the species in a bad light.
Fanning was competing in the J-Bay Open tournament finals when the incident occurred. The shark appeared next to him as he was swimming. Fanning fought hard, the shark swam away and the 34-year-old got out of the situation unscathed. He was later taken out of the water by a boat.
The entire Mick Fanning shark encounter, shown in this original footage titled "Shark attacks Mick Fanning at J-Bay Open," has attracted more than 17 million viewers. People are now fascinated about the professional surfer's heroic escape from a dangerous creature.
However, experts beg to disagree, saying that Fanning and the shark may have simply bumped into each other and that the media has overhyped the threat. This has led to humans' misunderstanding of the creatures, helping drive them into endangerment, reported Vox.
"If Mick Fanning wants to call it a shark attack, that's absolutely his right," according to political scientist Christopher Neff, who researches media coverage of sharks and shark policy.
Neff added that the media shouldn't dub the Mick Fanning shark encounter as an attack.
"The reality is that a shark, in great proximity to a person, didn't bite the person, didn't bite their board, swam away - and [yet] we have gone full tilt on 'shark attack,'" he said, adding, "That's not what sharks do when they're trying to bite people. You don't see all that splashing,"
In fact, Neff isn't the only expert sceptical about the Mick Fanning shark video.
"Based on the footage we've seen, we don't know its intentions. It looks like the shark was trying to get out of the situation as fast as Mark [sic] was," said marine biologist Alison Kock at the University of Cape Town, reported the Guardian.
Spokesperson Andrew Ingram of the National Sea Rescue Institute also was more blunt about the Mick Fanning shark video, saying, "To call it an attack is inaccurate. I've watched the slow motion footage very carefully. I think the shark was coming for a look."
"When these things get characterized as shark attacks ... it creates a domino effect," Neff said. "All of it is predicated on assuming that sharks are intent on getting humans."
Vox describes the encounter as something that could possibly have been an accidental collision between a human and a shark. Media's interpretation dangerously feeds into public fear of the species, thus contributing to human hostility and ultimately their extinction from the oceans.
As for Fanning, he recently arrived in Sydney and has thanked supporters for their well-wishes, according to ABC News. Fanning has said that while he plans to return to the competition the following year, "It will be hard.
Of the shark, Fanning said, "Thanks for not eating me. We are in their domain. It's like if you go to a lion's cage, and you jump in, one day, your number will come up. I guess I am lucky it wasn't my time."
