Always sad to see a creature of this magnitude hoisted from a rope, but then again, there is something reassuring in knowing he's not swimming around out there.
So, here's the scenario: You're on your dream trip to South Africa, in the middle of a perfect dawn patrol, the winds are offshore, the waves are shoulder to head-high, it's just you and a couple friends out. All an all, it's an idyllic morning. Then you notice a flock of seagulls hovering over the water right inside the surf line. They're kind of spazzing out, so you figure they're either in hot pursuit of a bait ball or they've taken kindly to a floating seal corpse. The birds keep hanging around, the tide gets a little lower, and then this ancient behemoth washes up on the sand. The massive Great White carcass rattles everybody, but then some idiot has to ponder what else could be out there.
Anyway, after it was beamed to him via South African lensman Pierre Tostee, this photo was posted on Facebook by Billabong XXL Director Bill Sharp today, with the tagline, "Look what washed up on the beach in South Africa this week."
Of course, it garnered more than a few comments. "That beast tormented Mossel Baai for years," pointed out A-Frame Photo's Jeff Hall. "I think they used to refer to him as 'The Submarine.' I'm sure he has similar sized friends. Yikes!"
Yikes indeed.
Addendum: Since posting this earlier today a bru at ZigZag magazine in South Africa has helped set the record straight on when and where this beast came from: "According to Albert Phillipson from Waves Surf Shop in Mossel Bay, there was no shark reported washed up on the Point over the weekend. Although, he mentioned that a film crew were filming the dissection of a shark near the point. We soon discovered that the shark pictured is actually the same shark Zigzag ran online a few months ago, which washed up near Zinkwazi beach on the KZN-Natal North Coast."
I guess that explains why it looks like some lady's trying to interview the shark. Regardless, no matter when or where it washed up, it's still not what you want to see if you're paddling out.
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