Reunion Island, Home To Yet Another Shark Attack

The pristine, famed, left-hand reeler, St. Leu has housed another shark attack on the island. The attack was minor… well, for shark attack standards. The finer details are still a bit fuzzy. From what we can gather: a man was bitten on his forearm while paddling the St. Leu channel, the wounds are deep, but his limb is still attached. This just adds to the tally of attacks on Reunion: 18 in four years (seven proving fatal).

Davy Stolk, a South African ex-pat who owns a surf shop near St. Leu, had exited the water prior to the incident. He told South Africa’s premiere surf magazine: Zig Zag, “We haven’t had surf for two weeks until today, which was 4-5ft, glassy and clean. Then boom, our first session back and another attack.”

The last attack at Reunion occurred June 1st, which was not fatal. Prior to that was the tragic death of 13 year surfer Elio Canestri on the morning of April 12th. The sheer volume of attacks in the area are staggering.

The waves are world class, it’s tempting but proving more and more to be not worth the risk.