Australian surfer Mick Fanning has returned to the water for the first time since fighting off a large shark at a South African competition last weekend.
He paddled out near his Tweed Heads home on Saturday morning, five days after he made global headlines for bravely grappling with a large shark on live TV during the final of a world surfing tour event at Jeffreys Bay.
“First surf back. Feels so good. Surfed by myself but had Andy in my thoughts. Happy Birthday brother,” Fanning wrote under a silhouetted photo of himself looking out to the ocean, which he posted on Instagram. The picture has already had almost 30,000 likes.
The Andy he is referring to is likely American surfer Andy Irons, who was born on 24 July 1978 and died on 2 November 2010.
Fanning said it could be months before he gets over the shark attack in South Africa, but that he would return to the water.
A shaken Fanning appeared at a media conference of about 150 journalists in Sydney on Tuesday afternoon to recount fighting off the shark.
Asked what he would say if he encountered the shark again, Fanning joked he would say, “Thanks for not eating me!”
Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
