Shark scare no match for winner John John Florence at World Surf League Margaret River Pro.

Hawaiian surfer John John Florence says he was unaffected by a shark sighting and elbow injury ahead of his win at the World Surf League Margaret River Pro.

Event organisers deployed water patrol and put competition on hold during a semi final match up after large schools of salmon and several sharks surfaced near competitors Kolohe Andino and Brazil’s Felipe Toledo.

Both surfers were ferried out of the water for 20 minutes on jet skis as surveillance continued with the assistance of a helicopter.

Toldeo said he was thankful for the rapid response of water patrol, telling the ABC he initially had “no idea” what was happening.

“There was all sorts of splashing going on and in the end we sort of had a conversation with the sharks and fish,” Toledo laughed after eventually losing his match up to Andino.

“It helped having the water patrol there so quickly and it was good to put the heat on hold for a little bit.”

Several recreational surfers took advantage of the situation and rode a number of waves as the surveillance continued.

Marine life encounters to be expected

Eventual winner John John Florence said encounters such as the one Toledo and Andino faced were to be expected “out there in ocean.”

“It is what it is, there’s sharks there’s fish and there’s whales out there and it’s why we love coming here,” Florence said.

“It didn’t bother me; we have good water patrol and it’s all part of surfing in the end.”

Florence, the current world champion, was the form surfer throughout the event but went into the final nursing a elbow injury he incurred in his semi-final against the Australia’s Jack Freestone.

The Hawaiian was forced to jump onto dry reef after the wave he was riding “hit the inside section and sucked dry,” leaving him little option but to deliberately fall onto the rocks.

“I didn’t know what to do so I jumped and ended up hitting the reef really, really hard,” Florence said.

“At first I actually thought I’d broken my elbow, but I came in and had a doctor do some work on it and coupled with the adrenalin of competing, it all came good for the final.”

Freestone had earlier defeated fellow Australian Owen Wright who was sidelined for the entire 2016 season due to a head injury sustained while surfing in Hawaii at the end of the 2015 season.

Wright made an emotional and successful comeback at the season opening event at Snapper Rocks, defeating good mate Matt Wilkinson in the final.

Florence now leads the men’s rankings ahead of Wright, while Sally Fitzgibbons and Stephanie Gilmore are equal first on the women’s tour.

The World Surf League championship tour moves to Bells Beach, Victoria, with competition set to commence on August 12.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.