Dylan Reddering
Dylan Reddering survived a hit by a great white on Friday. The following day, and a little down the coast, another surfer was hit and lost their right leg.

South Africa: Two Great White Attacks in Two Days!

Shitty weekend for surfers in North Carolina and in Cape Town… 

It sure is hard to keep up with the news sometimes. A couple of shark attacks over the weekend in North Carolina, a south-eastern US state, lit up the wires and… now… a couple more, this time in South Africa.

Two attacks by suspected Great Whites, both on surfers.

First, around dusk on Friday, at Lookout Beach, Dylan Reddering, 23, was bitten on the right side of his body. Dylan kicked the shark away only to became stuck in a current while trying to swim back to shore.

In a little twist, his dad was one of the first to respond to the attack. He heard an emergency siren indicating there had been an incident at sea and rushed out to respond.

“I didn’t know it was my son. When I got to the (NSRI) station I was told there’s a shark attack. The boats were already out. A friend called me (and said) it was Dylan. My friend said: ‘Dylan is okay, don’t worry.’ You have no idea what those words meant.”

The following day, 19-year-old Caleb Swanepoel was surfing at Buffels Bay thirty k’s away, when he was attacked. He lost his right leg.

Last month, Cape Town surfer Mathieu Dasnois surrvied a hit by a four-metre white.

Which all begs the question, would you still go surfing in South Africa? Or are shark attacks, now, like Margaret River or Reunion, just part of the game?

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Cape Hatteras: Two shark attacks in two days!

Let's go surf! No… wait… 

It ain’t the time to be in the water around Cape Hatteras, or anywhere in the states North and South Carolina, for that matter.

On Friday, June 26, a man was in waist-deep water on Hatteras Island when he was bitten on his leg and back. An hour earlier on the same day in South Carolina, a man was bitten while swimming off Hunting Island.

The next day, Saturday, June 27, a 17-year-old boy got hit while swimming, bitten on the right calf, ass and both hands.

A little under two weeks ago, in two separate attacks only 90 minutes apart, a 13-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy each lost an arm at the same North Carolina beach. His below the shoulder, hers at the elbow. The girl also sustained serious tissue damage to her leg.

(Read about that two-pronted attack here.)

Who knew raquetball could be so… fun!

 

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Mick Fanning and the most important thing ever.

Ever. By far.

Sports broadcasting is obsessed with building hero narratives around every single moment. Every little shot, putt, throw, kick, swing, pitch, backside 360 or tube carries the weight of the whole world. The participants/observers will talk about the event with much gravitas, afterward, letting the viewer know that history would not be the same if it had not occurred.

Here Mick Fanning wins the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals world title. An astroid did not hit the earth because of it. Thanks Mick!

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Dane Reynolds at home

Video: At home with Dane “Danger” Reynolds!

A beautifully intimate ten-minute short as snatched by best friend Jason "Mini" Blanchard… 

In this intimate portrait of a surfer suddenly back in the game, we see Dane Reynolds preparing for a trip to the Mentawai Islands.

He is captured at his barn-style house in Carpinteria, California, the one he shares with his girl Courtney and their son Sammy Boo and their triumvirate of dogs (Pam, Boogie and Truffle) and in moments reminiscent of the nineties film Kelly Slater in Black and White he is asked what he has for breakfast and ponders such weighty questions as whether or not to eat before a flight thereby negating the need to eat the airline’s own food.

The trouble is, Dane shrieks, the one time he ate before a flight the food served was so good he had to eat it! Absurd!

There’s a little surf in this short, although not enough if it’s surf you’re coming for, and it finishes with wise counsel from its maker Jason “Mini” Blanchard.

Mini: Have a good trip… rip

Dane: I’ll try.

Mini: All you have to do is rip.

Dane: That’s what I’ll do then.

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Suicide tourism
Hawaii is a must-visit destination for any person wanting to end it all under a rainbow. “Suicide tourism” is what it’s called and it is big business on the big island (and all the other islands too). Suicides are the second-leading cause on non-resident death in Hawaii after drowning.

Suicide Tourism Booms in Hawaii!

Come for the waves, stay for...ever!

Hawaii is, without doubt, a must-visit destination for any true surfer. From Kauai to Maui to Oahu’s famed North Shore there is no shortage of amazing waves to discover and aloha spirit to experience. Welcome to Paradise… as the most famous book ever written is partially titled. (buy here!)

Hawaii, though, is also a must-visit destination for any person wanting to end it all under a rainbow. “Suicide tourism” is what it’s called and it is big business on the big island (and all the other islands too). Suicides are the second-leading cause on non-resident death in Hawaii after drowning. Traveling to exotic locales to polish off a life well, or maybe poorly, lived. “I think a lot of people might make decisions based on what they think about a place…” suicide expert Kenneth Tardiff told Honolulu’s CivilBeat.com. “…Hawaii is a really impressive place to think about and so is New York City. Suicide can be a very emotional thing.”

The Empire State Building, Golden Gate Bridge and Niagara Falls are all leading destinations but so are Waikiki’s many hotel balconies. Those are the most common places for visitors to utilize . Educating hotel staff as to recognizing people who may be suicidal is an important step but the subject, overall, is a difficult one that many don’t want to discuss. Maraya Grambs, though, the executive director of Mental Heath America of Hawaii, though, told CivilBeat.com that public awareness is key to preventing suicides. So there you are. Read more here.

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