Almost a dozen animals put on the show during the J-Bay Open earlier this month in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa
- The Eastern Cape is famous for its dolphins and for its surfing, but it's a lucky treat to see both happen at once
- Photographer Stan Blumberg: 'I have surfed and scuba dived and I have never seen dolphins surf like this before'
These
playful dolphins stole the show when they gatecrashed one of the
world's top surfing competitions to ride the waves themselves.
The
animals turned up as global surfing legends descended on Jeffreys Bay,
South Africa, for the latest stop on the Association of Surfing
Professionals world tour.
The
12-day J-Bay Open saw surfers compete for dominance off the shores of
the Eastern Cape, famous for its dramatic waves and large numbers of
bottlenose dolphins.
But things took a surprise twist when a school of almost a dozen dolphins set out to show they were the undisputed kings of the sea in these images captured by 62-year-old Stan Blumberg.
'Two
surfers were in the water at the time when a few pods of dolphins swam
past and a few surfed the waves as they usually do, without breaking the
surface,' he said - then they broke through and put on their show.
He
added: 'In my 62 years of living at the coast, I have surfed, scuba
dived, been a member of a surf lifesaving club and can honestly say that
I have never before seen dolphins surf like this before.'
Surf's up! These dolphins gatecrashed
one of the world's top surfing contests in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa,
to put on an impressive wave-riding show of their own
Awe: The Eastern Cape is famous for
its prime surfing and schools of bottlenose dolphins, but it's a lucky
treat to see both happening at the same time
Breaking with convention: The dolphins
swam close to the shore during the J-Bay Open, part of the Association
of Surfing Professionals world championship tour
Preparing for their big moment:
Photographer Stan Blumberg said he had lived on the coast for 62 years
and never seen such an impressive dolphin surfing display
Build-up: Human surfers spend years
honing their skills, but things came a little more naturally to these
dolphins swimming off the coast of South Africa's Eastern Cape
Catch them if you can! Dolphins are
known for their playfulness in the wild, where they play games such as
leaping as high as they can out of the water
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