La Reunion local Jeremy Flores, who won the Billabong Pipeline Masters in Hawaii in 2010, paid tribute to Canestri on his Instagram account: “ANOTHER shark attack in Reunion island this morning. 13 years old Elio was one of our best up and coming surfer. Words can’t describe how sad and angry i am. So young !!! Heart breaking News. RIP :(”
There have been 16 shark attacks, seven of them fatal, in the island’s waters over the past four years.