When a dark shadow was spotted beneath the waves at Australia's Bells Beach during the Rip Curl Pro on the weekend, surfers scrambled to the shoreline fearing the worst.
Just a year after the Margaret River Pro was also called off because of two nearby shark attacks, tensions were highand the siren was activated.
But the brief panic proved a false alarm as a large clump of seaweed was identified the culprit of the safety scare.
"A few people including some of the surfers in the heat saw a large dark shape under the wave," competition director Kieren Perrow said.
"Jack was waving at the skis and they came over to us and we jumped on the back and went to see what it was.
"We got over to the shadow and it turns out it was a massive clump of seaweed, but it was good that we took the precaution and the safety protocols worked well."
Once things settled back down and the competition re-commenced, Wright took out the elimination heat.
