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 high and 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.
"It freaked them out, to be honest.
