Kelly Slater is without a doubt the most decorated surfer of all time. He may be considered amongst the greatest athletes ever (he's won more titles in his sport of choice than Muhammad Ali in boxing, for example). His eleven world surfing titles leave him tied with the eleven PGA Player of the Year awards held by Tiger Woods. But simply being good at what you do isn’t enough to make people jump online and search for you. Sharks on the other hand have the power to make you an internet sensation.

The below chart shows Google search interest in both Kelly Slater and Australian surfer Mick Fanning since 2004 (trends are measured in relative popularity, not in real values). Mick Fanning, a great surfer in his own right, has always been second to Kelly Slater when it comes to internet popularity. However, at an ASP World Tour competition in South Africa in July this year Mick Fanning was ‘attacked’ by (or had a collision with) an unidentified species of shark. The whole thing was shot in Full HD. As Kelly Slater himself put it, “you’d probably say this is the most well documented shark attack ever.”

It seems that a well documented shark attack can make you very famous, very fast.