Editorial: Snappy wake-up reminder

World Champion surfer Mick Fanning is shadowed by a large great white shark in South Africa.

The video of a large shark grabbing professional surfer Mick Fanning's leg rope - the leash that attaches a surfer to their board - was viral by the time most Northlanders were waking up to their Monday morning coffee.

It is "shudderingly" real, captured on live television during the final of a surfing event at Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa. Anyone who has dipped a toe in Northland's coastal waters will have watched it in awe, perhaps even in fear.

Check out the video here.

One of the people who watched was Fanning's Northland cousin, Mark Osborne, who sent a text message of support to his relative yesterday after seeing the footage online.

The shark approaches Fanning from behind, slowly, and grabs the leg rope, sending Fanning into overdrive as he attempts to paddle away.

The surfer was dragged under the water before he surfaced, to be grabbed by a support vessel which also picked up his co-finalist.

Fanning did little to attract the attention of the shark, suspected to be a great white.

And the manner that the shark approached him, slowly, suggests that it was testing the waters, so to speak.

Experts say sharks have an undeserved reputation as the bad guys.

The reality is they are the animal most commonly capable of attacking, and killing humans.

They are the animal we fear most. Seeing seasoned professionals like Fanning shaken up to the degree that he was, reminds us of our precarious relationship with the ocean's inhabitants, and how quickly the relationship can sour without warning.