SURFERMAG.COM ONLINE EXCLUSIVE

SURFERMAG.COM: There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of anxiety regarding that question; you're rolling with it.

RASTA: In five years… there is this is one thing…hopefully I won't have to do anymore, but might still be doing. I'm setting up, with another friend, an organization called Surfers for Sanctuaries, the Web site is just going up now: www.surfersforsanctuaries.com. Basically we're starting this to create sanctuaries, or help to create sanctuaries, for dolphins and whales and porpoises around the world that are getting caught in drift nets and slaughtered, basically, on purpose. So that's something I'm just getting into now, we're just setting this up. So basically the objective is to inform the surfing world on what's going on in our waters. We surf with these dolphins and whales, and we’re showing that they're still being killed in large numbers, so with this we're going to bring the surfing world information on recent slaughters, places where you can do something. But more importantly, we're hoping to pull together surfers from different regions of the world. So here's this one porpoise called the Dall’s porpoise, which is a black and white porpoise, it's really little but is the fastest, it only lives in Japan and Northern California, so we want to bring surfers together for that purpose, to come together and go to organizations like Greenpeace or WWF (World Wildlife Fund). Take to them a large group of surfers, either with money or numbers, to try to put on some sort of event or protest or whatever. Anything to raise awareness on this issue and what we don't want happening in the waters that we're in, so that's basically the plan. We were surfing in Angari, just like an hour from where I live, hour and a half. And this friend and I, we just decided to do this whole Surfers for Sanctuaries thing together and he was going to do this whole business side of it and logistics and that. Anyway, we went surfing at this reef and there was heaps of fish everywhere and dolphins, we're sitting in this lineup right next to each other and we come over this wave and there was this tiger shark coming straight at us, just a few feet away. I was fully on the lookout, thinking I was on the lookout, eyeing for sharks and this thing was instantly on us, on an angle coming instantly on us at an angle between me and him, so it was about five feet away and my mate goes, "Oh my God, that's a shark!" and instantly I went, "Oh my God, but that's a dolphin!" and there was a dolphin and it came across and pushed the shark away. Unbelievable, it was so amazing. So like a few days after, we decided to jump on and say, "Let's do this," this thing came along and saved our lives, undoubtedly saved our lives, the shark was motoring down on us. We had another friend swimming down the lineup, he was filming and he went over the wave, saw the tube and he saw us coming toward him but the shark was closer, but at the last minute a dolphin came along and Bang! pushed it away from him as well. It was really amazing.

SURFERMAG.COM: Do you think there's some kind of connection? Or is it coincidence?

RASTA: I really think that they have incredible intelligence...

SURFERMAG.COM: I mean on a grander scale, between you guys deciding to do the Surfers For Sanctuaries and this situation in the water with the shark, is it coincidence?

RASTA: I think it's definitely a synchronicity, you hear that word all the time in new-agey kind of stuff, but in my level of experience, whenever I've felt like I'm doing things that are really clear in my mind and clear in my heart, that things really fall into place really easily and very synchronistically. You meet the right person at the right time and say the right thing, you get to that point at the right time, all of these little things happen, really cool moments and that was just another one of them. I wouldn't say that it was coincidence because to say that would mean that they weren't related in any way. They are related, in my opinion, because I have this incredibly strong feeling to want to help these creatures, then instantly one comes and saves my life. So I definitely feel closer to them now because of that experience, even than before and wanting to help them and everything. So definitely connected.

SURFERMAG.COM: Some people call that an act of God.

RASTA: I call it an act of God for sure because everything is God in my opinion. Definitely. And an act of incredible intelligence. I just think they're so intelligent, those creatures, so it was amazing to experience that, really cool. I've been listening to the whales in front of my house every day and since then; we get the whales coming past our house every year and swimming out and just diving under and listening to all these songs and calls and stuff, it's been amazing. It makes it even more personal to want to do this Surfers for Sanctuaries thing. Just sharing the same space, and sharing that space just happens to be one of the most amazing parts of my life, and going surfing, being in the water every day, it's really cool.