Eden Hasson about to rip a top turn over a Great White. Photo: Chris Hasson
The very nature of surfing as an oceanic pursuit means occasionally sharing waves with the locals. The true locals, that is. Sea creatures.
Everybody knows dolphins rip (and sometimes land on you if you burn them!). It’s not uncommon to see pelicans high-line a section. But every once in a while the man in the gray suit will lurk into the surf zone.
In a photo that’s been making rounds on the internet of late, 10-year-old surfer Eden Hasson can be seen bottom turning as, what appears to be a Great White, dips underwater on the shoulder.
A zoomed-in version of the photo in question. Photo: Chris Hasson
Some via social media have questioned the authenticity of the photo saying that it looks to be nothing more than another surfer duck diving, but Eden’s father Chris Hasson who shot the photo is emphatic it was definitely a shark.
“I’ve been surfing for 30 years, many of those competitively. I know the difference between a shark and surfer when I see it,” he told The Inertia in an email.
“There were 4 people out with Eden at the time,” he went on. “Two out the back on Mals when the photo was taken. One of those guys is an ex-pro footy player. The guy in the foreground bottom left of the photo and his mate paddling out beside the rocks at the time. All have testified that there was definitely no surfer paddling out and the photo is legit. I called them all in straight away and showed them the image. The guy in the foreground bottom left (Josh Dickson) is a champion spearfisherman. He said there was a heap of stingrays and a big school of mullet had just moved in. Not to mention Eden actually admitting there was definitely no one on that wave.
Eden completing that top turn. Kid’s got style. Photo: Chris Hasson
“Shark experts believe the white (about 2.5 meters) was probably feeding on the stingrays (they love them) and noticed the school of mullet and was heading over to them when Eden came flying across the wave in his bright yellow wetsuit. Curious, it did a last minute turn. Passive behavior. It was not simply lying on its back as you can see the movement of water.”
Andrew Chin, a shark researcher from James Cook University, confirmed with ABC that the photographed shark was possibly a small great white.
“From the angle, it looks like the shark was spooked and is rolling away from the board to escape it,” he said. “There is no way that this is a hunting approach.”
“These critics were simply not there, and it’s always easy to be an armchair critic,” says Hasson. “We know what we captured and will treasure it for a lifetime.”
