In a landmark decision, the WSL has decided to cancel the Margaret River Pro midway through and split the points due to high shark activity in the area, the WSL CEO Sophie Goldschmidt said in a letter.

“The WSL has made the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the Margaret River Pro as a result of the exceptional circumstances surrounding the presence of sharks and the safety of our surfers. This decision was made following several hours of consultation with a wide range of experts and opinion leaders,” the WSL leader began writing.

The executive also points out that surfing has that element of being practiced in nature and that they are used to dealing with it, but that the safety of their athletes is a priority and that in this case they felt that the risk was greater than they could control.

Goldschmidt adds that he knows there will be business commitments and members of the local community who will be disappointed by the news, but he believes this is the wisest decision. “If we decide to continue the event under the current circumstances and something terrible happens, we will be disappointed,” he says., “We would never forgive ourselves,” Goldschmidt says.

The decision was made because last Monday (in Australia time zone, Sunday night in the West), there were Two shark attacks six kilometres away from the tournament, One involved an Argentine citizen (read here) and the other to a Dane. The first had to be treated urgently and the second did not.

After this, the beaches were closed and although there were surfers who jumped into the water, the voice of the former world champions Gabriel Medina and Adriano de Souza and the current leader of the ranking Italo Ferreira made themselves felt (read here).

Others, such as local professionals Jay Davies and Mitch Thorson, believe that this is normal in the area and everyone can live with it, BeachGrit reported. However, Davies said he is surprised that it is happening at this time of year because it is salmon season and sharks are abundant.

The championship then closes with 24 men placed in 13th position and eight women placed fifth (this pending official confirmation), what is clear is that the leaders remain since both Julian Wilson and Italo Ferreira managed to get into round 3.

We return to West Oz and it is still unknown what will happen with the points.
The CEO said: “Margaret River is a special place, with amazing partners. It has produced unforgettable moments over the past few years., and at the moment we have no plans to not return in the future.”

She also clarified that there is a possibility that the tournament could be completed elsewhere: "Our competitive structure allows for points to be shared in the event of a cancellation. We are not giving up on completing the men's and women's event in some form this year, though, and will communicate our thoughts on that when we know more."