Mark Healey is already one of the world's best big-wave surfers. The lanky Hawaiian's feats in heavy water are the stuff of legends, as he's made an art form of facing his fears. Lately, however, it's his free-diving beneath the waves that has people buzzing, as he's been getting extremely cozy with toothy creatures of the deep. In his latest adventure, he came face-to-face with a giant bull shark, which in some regions can be more aggressive than great white sharks.

That said, he's been free diving with great whites, too, which is another reason why Healey might seem a bit crazy to you and I. But the science of conquering fear is something that he studies. Last year, when images of Healey swimming with great whites surfaced on Surfer Magazine, he revealed how suppressing his survival instincts is one part of his big-wave training which comes in handy in these situations.

"The trick is to allow yourself to relax mentally when you can't relax physically," said Healey. "If you can control your mental state enough to control your heart rate, resist our involuntary reflexes, and stay calm, that can translate to other parts of your life. It can help you ignore the speed bumps. The little things."

Beyond his daring quests is a passion for the ocean and its apex predators, which Healey believes get a bad reputation.

"Sharks can't change their facial expression. They tell you what they want you to know with their bodies. They always look mean to most people."

From his up-close observations, Healey now has a few theories of his own about encounters with sharks and a life well-spent in the water:

• "If they want to take you, they're going to take you. And the only way you're going to interact with them is if you make yourself completely vulnerable and they make the decision to come to you."

• "The only reason I'm able to do it is because they're coming up out of curiosity. I would definitely not be in the water if it looked like they wanted to feed."

• "After spending time with sharks, I don't necessarily feel any better about surfing...they're a lot more intelligent than I expected, and with intelligence comes extra curiosity."

• "People have ulterior motives. I think people are way more dangerous than sharks."

• "When I hit the water I feel like I'm home. Everything else is uh, I don't know ... it's not as simple."

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Photos: Mark Healey diving with great white shark (above) from Surfer Magazine/Team Effort Films; Healey surfing in Fiji (below) taking on more familiar beast at Cloudbreak. Photo: Todd Glaser, Surfer Magazine.

Almost a week after the first fore-runners of the massive South Pacific swell that stole the spotlight (and world champ) from Jeffrey's Bay, the first emissions of light and sound from an epic 72 hours are now surfacing. While Kelly Slater was obviously the most notable name in the lineup, there were some seriously demented individuals floating around hunting for bombs. The reef at Cloudbreak is isolated a mile off the nearest dry sand, and that distance only makes the wave more powerful and dangerous. It's easy to get lost out there, especially during a swell of this size. Everyone, including Slater, was claiming this was the biggest and cleanest they'd ever seen Tavarua.

Kohl Christensen put his North Shore outer reef paddle-knowlege to good use in the maxing conditions, snagging some of the bigger waves ever paddled into at Cloudbreak. Australian Ryan Hipwood was another standout of the day, getting what he's claiming to be the barrel of his life. The thing is scary big. Video below. Also out ruling the lineup were Nate Fletcher, Mark Healey, and Bruce Irons.







Mark Healy at Cloudbreak from surfreportes on Vimeo.

Quiksilver's short film series MOMENTS has been flowing forth from the internet for a few weeks now, with new chapters being released weekly. Here is Mark Healey's segment. Healey hails from the North Shore of Oahu, where he grew up literally in the ocean. From skin diving to surfing Pipeline, Healey is about as comfortable in heavy situations as anyone on earth.

If you spent the last few days ignoring friends and family to watch the Quik Pro Snapper contest like me, you may have noticed the awesome little Quik ads featuring their a-team riders. You may have even commented to your imaginary friends that they are so well shot, like they came straight out of a movie. Well that's because they did silly! Quik has been working on a new film called MOMENTS and those ads are little snippets from the movie. You can watch the whole thing below and holy shit is this thing impressive.