Kelly Slater is facing heavy criticism for his comments on sharks.
The world's best-known pro surfer is facing some heavy criticism after he called for a shark cull on an island in the Indian Ocean. Slater's call comes in response to a fatal attack on a bodyboarder on Reunion Island, a region of France located east of Madagascar. The island has seen 20 attacks since 2011.
You can read his post below in which he calls for and defends an idea for a shark cull near the island.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ8NAOEg58k/
The backlash really shows how times have changed since Jaws made an entire generation afraid to go into the water in the 1970s. Kelly was quickly bombarded with hateful comments on both his Instagram and Twitter accounts.
This isn't the first time the topic has come up for the island. Debate over a shark cull on Reunion has been raging for some time however. Many locals on Reunion are also in favor of a cull. In fact, attacks actually caused bans on surfing and sunbathing there a couple summers ago.
No one is exactly sure why attacks are up at Reunion. Some believe the creation of a marine preserve stopped shark fishing and led to a bump in the population. Others are saying the waters may be murkier around the island now due to more wastewater making it to the ocean as a result of the island's growth.
Such waters are favored by bull sharks, the ones Slater says are a problem.
While the internet may not agree with him, Slater may have found some solidarity with Western Australia. Some residents and towns there have also called for shark culls in the face of rising attacks in recent years.
NEXT: AUSTRALIAN TOWNS CALLING FOR SHARK CULLS IN THE FACE OF RISING ATTACKS
