Oh My God ! Sharks are doing it again, they like to bite us ! Exceptional circumstances, as shark attacks and Surfer security, are the reasons the WSL has cancelled the 2018 Margaret River PRO, obviously for both men and women. But the surprising news is that it seems the event won’t resume again, the WSL has activated the Force Majeure clause in the WSL Rulebook. This means that the event is cancelled but surfers will still get points and money according to their current position in the event. You can take a look at how many points will each surfer take from Margaret River PRo in the WSL article of the previous link.

According to the WSL, if the clause is applied when a surfing event has already started, then:

(a) Prize Money will be paid to surfers in the position they would receive if eliminated in next possible opportunity in the event. The balance of prize money will be split evenly.
(b) If a round is not completed, each surfer will receive the points earned from previous round, or last placed points if cancelled during Round 1.
(c) If round is completed, they get the points they earned from that round.

There were at least two attacks in near areas, this time sharks didn’t mess with PRO surfers like when Fanning got bitten back in 2015, but it seems this is what’s going on according to the WSL official site:

“On April 16th (local time), two separate shark attacks occurred at nearby Gracetown – approximately 6 kilometers away from the primary event site at Main Break. The presence of beached whales in the area has attracted sharks and contributed to the aggression of their behavior, which, experts agree, has increased the possibility of further attacks. These findings have resulted in nearby locations being closed to surfing and swimming.”