Belgium Balinese

Arpad Leclere is 16. He was born in Belgium and raised in Bali. He’s been on the radar and shredding since he was around 12, but this year he has really stepped up his game.

Toledo – Like Home

Felipe ripping during time taken off tour due his attempt to storm the WSL judging tower at the Oi Rio Pro.

Dane – Fairly Normal

Thanks to social media we often get blips and a few laughs from behind the scenes at Dane Reynolds’ house. His wife Courtney (@NapkinApocolypse)’s Instagram is must-see social media. Between Sammy, Boogie, Pam and the pigeons, it’s content cute overload. And beyond that there’s Dane, the man behind those scenes, is front and center in his scenes. Dane recently produced Chapter 11, his more or less tell-all about the prime of his professional surfing career and the highs and hurdles stemming from the interesting challenges it presented him personally. Above he talks about his next prime. Building a continually growing family, starting his new brand Former now that he’s left Quiksilver, and traversing the world that comes with all that. It’s a lot of new in his world. He still loves surfing. Sitting in the parking lot at Emma Wood. And the occasional Modelo. But our friends at What Youth went over to get a look at how Dane’s next chapter is coming along.

Killer whales are killing great whites off Cape Town

The first dead shark – 15ft one-ton great white – washed up on May 3 and the following day a 12ft shark washed up nearby. Three days later a third dead great white was washed up. A fourth, a 12 foot male, yesterday. All had had their livers removed with surgical precision.

Experts believe Orcas are feasting on their organs because of a love for a compound called squalene. Maybe with the ocean equalivent of a nice chianti?

An ex shark, ceased to be, bereft of life..

Marine Dynamics, a conservation body which also runs shark cage diving trips, confirmed the latest great white had died of Orca wounds

Biologist Alison Towner said

‘Obviously this is a very sad time for us. Nature can be so cruel but the dexterity with which these killer whales are capable of is mind blowing – almost surgical precision.

‘That is the way in which they have removed the squalene-rich livers and dumped the shark carcass. We have never seen anything like this before in great white deaths. ‘In the attacks there is left a large gaping hole between her pectoral fins where they were torn apart to reveal her body cavity and that their large livers were completely missing.”

And they look so cuddly…

Oops there it is….

Spotted off Hayling Island!!!

Yes the annual summer great whitey story has hit the shelves, or internet which ever you prefer.

This year the Independent is claiming a great white is hunting off…Hayling Island!

Shark angler Graeme Pullen says he has been trying to catch the shark after sightings. The shark is “the big one,” he says “This is no basking shark, no porbeagle, blue or mako”… Oo er…

One fisherman has reported it was “huge, the biggest shark I have ever seen”.

Fishing partner Mr Comben said he is “not prone to imagination” and couldn’t see “what else it could have been other than a great white”.

Carve has repeatedly spoken to Richard Peirce, chairman of the Shark Trust, who has been hunting for large sharks for years and while the conditions in waters around the UK are suitable for great whites to be visitors, he has never come across one.

We have seen huge porbeagles around the coast, but not one story we have investigated has come up with a great white.

A great white could end up off UK shores though.. See the story of Lydia below

(Meanwhile Orcas are murdering great whites and eating their livers in SA… Read more here)

In 2014 Lydia a Great White of 4.4meters long weighing 2000lbs was 1,000 miles away from the UK and heading towards the British Isles. Tracked by the scientists at shark research organisation Oceach the shark had travelled more than 19,000 miles since she was tagged.

She hung around just above the North Atlantic ridge. If she swam over that then technically she would have been the first recorded great white to cross the Atlantic. But she turned around and headed back to the tropics. Well you would, wouldn’t you?

Although there has been much conjecture about great whites, who travel thousands of miles in their lifetime, appearing in British and Irish waters there has been no confirmed evidence. So Lydia provided scientists with invaluable data.

Dr Gregory Skomal, senior fisheries biologist with Massachusetts Marine Fisheries, told BBC News: “No white sharks have crossed from west to east or east to west.
“Although Lydia is closer to Europe than North America, she technically does not cross the Atlantic until she crosses the mid-Atlantic ridge, which she has yet to do.

“She would be the first documented white shark to cross into the eastern Atlantic.””
The shark first tagged in Jacksonville, Florida and named after the founder of Bradley University, has travelled 380 miles in the last 72 hours. IF she continued at that rate she COULD be in the water off Cork or Cornwall less than three days.

You can track Lydia and other sharks world-wide on the fantastic Ocearch tracker here www.ocearch.org/#SharkTracker

The Shark Trust post this release in response the claims…

Another big result for 15 year old British surfer Ellie Turner

A runners up finish in the WSL Espinho Pro Junior has solidified Britain’s Ellie Turner’s 2nd place standing on the regional rankings. With top two at the end of the year qualifying for the World Junior Championships in Australia the 15 year old is in a good position with just one event to go in Spain next month.
Having had to pull out of the previous event in Biscarosse early due to other commitments (going to Brazil to compete in the Rip Curl Grom Search International Finals) it was vital that Ellie got a ‘keeper’ result here in Portugal. And after a finals day of great surf in the 3-4ft range Ellie’s march was only stopped by the favourite Teressa Bonvalot.

Here’s a quick Q&A with one of Europes brightest prospects:

Another 2nd place on the Pro Juniors. Happy with that?
Im super happy with 2nd place although I wish I could have won. That is always my aim but 2nd is good. I still have a lot of years left in this division.

How did this event differ from the last Pro Junior?
This event had much better waves. That was the main thing. The final day was actually really fun. Glassy waves, good peak with left and right options and it meant everyone could surf better.

Which of the other girls impressed you?
All of the finalists had been surfing good all event. Teressa is a great competitor and is hard to beat. Also Neis Lartigue surfed very good earlier in the event.

What is your plan before the final event in Sopelana, Spain next month?
I’m going home and just preparing for that event. I have no other contests and will just get surfing a lot at home around Bude.

What have you been up to since the previous Pro Junior in France?
It’s been pretty hectic. I had to leave the Biscarosse event early and pull out to go to Brazil for the Rip Curl Grom Search International Finals. That was a great experience and I ended up with 2nd place. I had two UK tour events which I won and also I won the Rip Curl Grom Search event in the UK. In between all of this I did a Rip Curl training camp at Surf Snowdonia also. It’s been a very fun and busy month with lots of surfing.

What surfboard have you been riding?
This event I rode my 4th surfboard shaped by Luke Hart. It’s an epoxy and goes great.

What are you looking forward to about going home for a little while?
Mostly seeing all of my friends and family. Hopefully get some fun waves. Start of summer in the UK can be a really nice time of year.