Screams.Splashes.Blood in the water.

At the early age of 13-years-old Kirra-Belle Olsson was already a pro-surfer being sponsored by Rip Curl. Living in Australia there was always a risk of a shark attack. But on the morning of October 16th, she didn’t think it would happen to her.

The young girl was bitten at 6:30 am off of Avoca Beach when she dropped in on a wave she describes it here

“I took the wave and then I twice felt something grab my foot, and I thought it was a mate behind me trying to scare me.”

Even after the attack Olsson doesn’t feel any hatred against the shark. She says that “Sharks are one of the most amazing creatures as I snorkel with them and they don’t attack unless they mistake you for a fish.” She was extremely brave when it came to her situation although they don’t know what kind of shark attacked her. Olsson suffered gashes to her calf muscle and puncture wounds her foot from where the shark grabbed her and tried to pull her down. She later received stitches to sew up the gashes. Australia only has two fatal shark attacks per year on average; this attack marks the second serious incident in as many weeks.

As it turns out she was surfing near a school of fish when she was attacked. Her father Jamie (on the right above) jokes about the attack commending his daughter for being so tough. The Olsson family has two other boys and Jamie jokes: “’I just wish my sons were as tough as her..”

Luckily since her attack there has been no other sharks seen in the waters off Avoca Beach. She is now recovering and preparing for more surfing competitions completely unfazed by what happened to her in the water.

Is there a way this can be prevented? While many beaches have nets or drumlines to try to catch the sharks before they get to the beaches, Avoca Beach didn’t have those nets. Many surfers do often go beyond the nets to catch good waves.

Many think the real problem is that more and more people are entering the water and surfing before dawn and after dusk when sharks are most active. Western Australia has recently initiated a controversial shark cull program, prompted by seven fatal attacks in three years. A shark cull is a state government policy of capturing and killing large sharks by use of baited drum lines. This three-month program used baited lines attached to floating drums to catch sharks off popular beaches in Western Australia.