Australian surfer Mick Fanning says he is still ‘jumping at shadows’ after his near miss with a shark at a South African competition in July.

The 34-year-old told Today he was still traumatised by the incident, despite escaping the attack unscathed.

“The more you sit and think about it, the worse it gets,” he said.

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“I feel like I see a lot more wildlife out in the water – which is maybe a good and bad thing.

“(I’m) jumping at shadows like there’s no tomorrow.”

The three-time World Champion encountered a shark early into the 2015 J-Bay Open final – in which he was competing against compatriot Julian Wilson.

Fanning famously encountered the shark and punched it before fleeing back to the shore.

Despite his near-miss, he returned to competition weeks later and is now one of six contenders to win this year’s world title, leading the ASP World Tour overall rankings, ahead of Brazilian Filipe Toledo, with one event remaining.

He said staying occupied and focusing on competition provides him with catharsis.

“Talking about it, you can deal with different emotions.. on a day-to-day sort of thing, the more I think about it, the more I’ll just go and do something to put it out of my mind,” he said.