Carissa Moore (HAW), 17, 2010 ASP Women’s World Tour rookie, has claimed the 2010 TSB Bank Women’s Surf Festival over Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 19, in pumping offshore barrels at Fitzroy Beach.

The third stop on the 2010 ASP Women’s World Tour season, the TSB Bank Women’s Surf Festival enjoyed a veritable cornucopia of conditions throughout the six-day event window, culminating in exciting fashion today in front of a capacity crowd at the primary site.

Moore wasted little time in the hard-fought Final, posting an excellent 9.33 out of a possible 10 on her opening wave for a flurry of electrifying backhand surfing. The Hawaiian rookie was quick to back it up, lighting up another running lefthander with unfettered ferocity and a complete repertoire of maneuvers for 9.83, collecting the highest heat total of the event, a 19.16 out of a possible 20, as well as the victory.

“The conditions definitely turned on for us this afternoon and I knew I couldn’t leave Sally (Fitzgibbons) a lot of room to maneuver,” Moore said. “She has been getting the highest scores every round and she’s so dangerous. I just felt like I was building momentum throughout the event and fortunately peaked in the Final.”

Following a relatively slow start to 2009 with two Equal 9th place results, Moore (who has long been considered one of the most promising young surfers on the planet) was growing frustrated with her former 9th place ranking. Today’s win vaults the young Hawaiian to ASP Women’s World No. 6 and establishes her as a legitimate threat to the 2010 ASP Women’s World Title.

“I wasn’t very happy with the start of my year,” Moore said. “I expected more out of myself and couldn’t figure out what was going on. Things really fell into place for me here in New Zealand and it’s a great result for my campaign this year. I’m really excited and looking forward to Sydney.”

In a show of unprecedented generosity, Moore chose to donate her US$15,000 first prize winnings to the local Waitara Bar Boardriders Club, a gesture that received undulating support from the thousands in attendance.

“I fell in love with New Zealand and I’m fortunate enough to have great support from my family and my sponsors and that puts me in a position to do things like this,” Moore said. “The Haka that the Waitara Bar Boardriders Club performed before the event was beautiful and they’ve really opened up their community and waves to us. For this, I am very thankful.”

Despite Moore’s domineering start to the Final, Fitzgibbons fought back admirably collecting a 7.50 and an 8.67, but it would not be enough to overtake Moore.

“It’s frustrating but Carissa (Moore) just went mad in the Final,” Fitzgibbons said. “The waves were really good, and it was an exciting heat. I’m disappointed to not get the win, but it’s still a good result for me.”

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A group of fishermen were delighted when they caught a shark in the warm waters off Australia’s east coast.

So imagine their surprise when there was a bigger tug and they realised their catch was being swallowed by an even bigger fish.

This giant, weighing one and a quarter tonnes and measuring 20ft long, was caught off the north coast of New South Wales and is thought to be at least 40 years old.

Vic Hislop, who runs a shark museum in Queensland, was so excited by news of the catch that he bought the shark, which died as it was hauled to shore.

‘It’s a magnificent specimen, that’s for sure,’ said Mr Hislop. ‘I’m planning to freeze it and then put it on display at the shark museum.’

Some species of hammerheads are on the global endangered list but they are not renowned for attacking humans, unlike the man-eating great white shark.

What might be a warning for swimmers to exercise caution about where they chose to swim is Mr Hislop’s comment to Brisbane’s Courier Mail that ‘while this one is huge, it’s not the biggest one I’ve seen’.

Sharks are known to feed at dawn and dusk, so people are advised to avoid the ocean at those times to further reduce their small chance of a shark attack.

Hammerheads, which are found in warm waters around the world, get their name from the shape of their heads, which are flattened and extend sideways.

This is thought to help them move in close to their prey and to find food on the sea bed.

While they are not notorious for killing humans, the International Shark Attack file lists them as seventh among sharks that pose a danger to people, the most dangerous being the great white.

In recent years there have been 33 reported hammerhead attacks on humans, but none have been fatal.

story via dailymail

Surfer Brendan Denton, 35, survived a shark attack at a Port Alfred beach.

Surfer Brendan Denton, 35, survived a shark attack at a Port Alfred beach yesterday.

All the beaches in the area have been closed until further notice.

Denton was surfing at East Beach at about 10am yesterday when he felt a tug at his feet and realised it was a shark.

“I tried to fight the shark off, but it became (more) aggressive and started dragging me by the feet under the water,” Denton said.

When he released the leash attaching his ankle to the surfboard, the shark made off with the board, but only briefly.

While Denton was trying to make it back to shore, his surfboard resurfaced a few metres away and he used it to paddle to the beach.
His friend and other surfers, who had heard his screams and seen the splashing, helped him to get to a doctor.

Port Alfred police spokesperson Mali Govender said Denton’s injuries looked serious.

As he was wheeled into theatre for surgery, she told him she could see his feet. He replied by saying he could not feel them.

Before this, paramedics on the scene had said Denton may need to have the tendons on his feet and on the insides of both ankles re-attached.

Govender described the water at East Beach as “very murky”, saying sharks were usually found in water like that.

Juan Pretorius of the National Sea Rescue Institute said initial indications showed it was a bronze shark or a Zambezi bull shark that had attacked Denton, but they would wait for experts to investigate the bite marks.

original story via iol.co.za