With W.A.’s surfing association officially stating its support for the extension of Western Australia’s shark cull to 3 years, and World Tour veteran Taj Burrow declaring his support for shark culling on Stab Magazine (claiming that we rape the ocean already so he doesn’t see why we shouldn’t fish Great Whites too…), sharks definitely appeared to be losing the PR battle in surfing recently.

Until this morning that is. In a brand new development, sharks are looking to turn their bad rep around and regain ground with news that the world’s smallest and friendliest shark has just been discovered, of all places, in the Lac d’Hossegor.

Spotted by a local fly fisherman, the man-eating predator looked like it had more or less given up all hope for life before the fisherman, in an unprecedented act of true kindness, was able to catch the poor fella with his bare hands and guide it back out through the lake and canal into the open ocean.

Local conservationists were overjoyed by the news, claiming it made a refreshing change to the dead marine carcasses that wash up along the coastline throughout winter storms and was a positive sign regarding the general health of the lake’s ecosystem.