surfing with dolphins

[Herve]

Just got this picture from a friend.....

[DrGecko]

They sure know how to have fun. Great shot! Where was the photo taken?

[Myra]

Wow. What a great shot. Thanks for posting.

[Watercolours]

That is one of the best pictures I have seen posted, Thanks send more!

[L.M.G.]

Sweet photo!! THANKS,
L.M.G.

[coral/carol]

Herve,
Do you know where this photo was taken?

[Herve]

No idea as to where the pic was taken....

[It'lldo]

I had seen that photo before on one of the websites that my husband frequents(he is a surfer) It was a while back and I can't be sure but for some reason I think it was taken in South Wales. It is not uncommon for him to come home after a session and tell me about the dolphin and yes sometimes sharks that he has the privilege of sharing a wave with. He surfs Florida, Costa Rica, Mexico & Abaco.

[pelicanpete]

Call me a sceptic but I'd say that pic is a composite, i.e. made up, like the guy who pasted Clinton's head onto Monica's body...

[unclematty]

I have to agree...I have seen this pic and others like it many times. Sorry.

[SoCalSue]

The dolphins here in So Cal do that too. I've sat on the beach and watched them for hours.

[mrbill]

I actually boogy boarded on that beach, and dolphins surfaced while we were in the water.. for the first few seconds when I wasnt sure it was a porpoise... scared me to death... later at resturant I saw that and similar photos for sale. apparently they like that spot... pacific porposie are also about 3x as big as atlantic.

[SamFamAustin]

I'd love to believe in this picture but I'm inclined to think like PelicanPete and UncleMatty. In all my years of free-style body surfing and sponge-boarding I've never seen anything like that. The dolphins I've been around always seemed to keep a respectable distance of about 20-30 feet away and never head straight at you, and only one or two or three at a time. If the picture is real it is quite good, maybe done with a telephoto lens, but to me it looks like a curling wave is fixing to run over those two surfers and put them in the washing machine for quite a while. This is either a fake tsunami picture or really lucky. Hey, are those crop marks on top of the wave?
-Sam

[pelicanpete]

And the wave that the dolphins are 'surfing' in is a completely different color the the water the surfers are in! There's even a distinct join-line ahead of the surfers where the phoney dolphin part has been added. The 'spindrift' on top of the wave looks phoney, too. Come on guys and gals, don't believe everything you see, especially in digital photography...

[It'lldo]

it is true the picture could be a fake.

I can promise you the my husband and many other surfers that I have spoken to over the past 20 years have come in from a session stoked from just having shared a wave with a pod of dolphins are not lying. I have heard several accounts of actual eye contact.
If you have not had the chance for an upclose with dolphins I hope that you do.
Try just off shore New Symna Beach, Florida. Or the Bananna River, Melbourne Florida, Indian River South Hutchinson Island. I personnaly have been within 10 feet of dolphins while boating at each of those locations. Once even back in 1986 while sailing just off of Green Turtle Cay, Abaco. Frankly I am shocked that anyone who has spent any time in Abaco (or anywhere in the water ) have not seen dolphins come up to look at you or to play in the wake of your boat.

You can have your opinion but must you be insulting?
Come on people don't be so negative.

[johnnyg]

I agree This is very possible as I have seen several waves w/ multiple porpoise driving down the line. It could have been altered adding the guy's in the line up. Actually they are caught inside the actual line up But no worries GREAT PICTURE>

[pelicanpete]

Quote: "You can have your opinion but must you be insulting?"

Don't think I was being "insulting" - certainly wasn't trying to be. I agree it is a great picture, though.

BTW, as an Advanced Open Water Diver (PADI), I have swum with dolphins in the ocean off the east end of Nassau many times. I occasionaly see dolphins in the Sea of Abaco just off my beach and get a great kick - everytime. Sometimes they surface when I am out in the boat but, being shy creatures, never get too close. They look cuddly and kissy in captivity (not a place they should be) but are great survivors in the wild and can defend themselves against any animal which comes between them and their young (including man and shark).

[R]

I actually boogy boarded on that beach, and dolphins surfaced while we were in the water.. for the first few seconds when I wasnt sure it was a porpoise... scared me to death... later at resturant I saw that and similar photos for sale. apparently they like that spot... pacific porposie are also about 3x as big as atlantic.Classification: All Bottlenose Dolphins are classified as Tursiops truncatus, which is derived from the Latin and Greek words for 'porpoise' and 'face'
The only size difference observed is between inshore, and offshore populations.
Largest specimens are over 1400 lbs, found offshore in the Atlantic.

Regards...R

[It'lldo]

OK I will admit it- maybe I was a little hyper-sensitive. I just get offended when someone try's to tell me how to think. I am in no way claiming to be some sort of expert on Dolphin behavior.
My husband and I just sat across the table from each other enjoying a yummy breakfast and I told him about the this. He sat there and talked for 45 minutes (yawn) about many stories of dolphins coming right up within 5 ft. of him while he was on his surfboard. Once when he was 17 years old he was in a pod of close to 30 of them that hung around and played right in the waves all around him for nearly 30 minutes. He was there first, they just showed up and had some fun with him.
And I believe him. He is not the sort of person to make that up.
I would never consider dolphins shy.. quite social is actually more like it.
I was sailing in the Molaki Channel off of Oahu back in 1989 and a giant sperm whale surfaced maybe 20 feet from the boat. I was so shocked I burst into tears. I was sure he was some crazed "Moby Dick" planning a return attack and smash us all to bits. He did resurface but further out and I eventually recovered from the shock.
My point being just because it didn't happen to ever person out there does not mean that it did not happen. Sorry that one guy hasn't had the luck of being more than 20 ft. from a dolphin.
As I said before the photo could be doctored although I look at images of waves every day (literally) and the face of a wave is nearly always a different color due to the reflection of light on it's lateral surface. Go to Google and type in Surfing Dolphins and you can see lots of images and short videos of dolphins swimming in waves down the line and sometimes they are swimming straight through.

[dp]

"Experts" on digital photography notwithstanding, this photo looks quite real, both in content and execution. The web is full of reports from people who have seen dolphins surfing and if you zoom in to the pixel level you will see no "lines" or other indicators of a "Photoshop" job. At 72 dpi screen resolution, it would be difficult to detect a really good mosaic, digital or otherwise. But the image does not demostrate the negative, either. Although I have not seen "dolphins" (as a kid in Florida, everybody called them "porpoises") surfing, I have seen them cavorting near my boat, many times, including one instance when one raced up, rolled over, seemingly exchanged waves and glances with my daughter on the bow, then scooted away from the boat only to turn around and repeat the whole thing, over and over. That show lasted 30 minutes. I have movies of it.
So, I believe the image is real. Further, what could possibly be gained by being a skeptic?

[AbacoPeach]

One becomes skeptical when you are emailed bogus photos on a daily basis. The tsunami picture for example... I always check www.snopes.com (http://www.snopes.com/). This photo does not come up on that website. In fact, it has a pic of a surfer with what looks like a shark in the wave but turns out to be a dolphin!

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/surfer.asp

[SoCalSue]

Of course the photo could be a fake but like I said before.... I've sat and watched dolphins surf. My kids go to surf camp every summer and I sit on the beach and take photos. I'll look and see if I have any of the dolphins surfing. I think I might from about 3 years ago. I've never seen that many, usually 5 to 10, but they surf in a ways, go back out and do it over and over. I don't know why they do it but then I don't know why my kids do it either. I also know that the camp has the kids get out of the water and watch rather than try to get close to them and I'm not sure why that is either. I assume it's because they're large, wild animals that have more right to be there than the kids.

[pelicanpete]

Like I said in an earlier post, this is the reason why your kids were made to get out of the water......."but (dolphins) are great survivors in the wild and can defend themselves against any animal which comes between them and their young (including man and shark)..."

[SoCalSue]

You're right Pete! Thats what I get for posting while sleep deprived...

[SamFamAustin]

Folks it does matter about the picture, the fact is that people share a very close relationship with dolphins - sorry if I was a naysayer about the graphics. The story about getting out of the water when baby dolphins were around was really neat. Down here in South Padre Island we've got most people to not feed the dolphins or swim with them, with great success. The babies are not unlike any other breed such as deer - you shouldn't get near them or touch them (plus as said, Mama might box you up). About six boats a day go out on dolphin tours, a big tourist draw. The inshore dolphins all have names, and it is neat to see them grow up their babies. I bet the locals have some names for some of the local Abaco dolphins. Some Abaco dolphin pictures would be wonderful and I'll be glad to see if we can get pictures of any new babies down here in Texas. Peace.

[Erin]

I see dolphins playing in the waves like that right in front of my house on Guana. Nice shot, thanks for sharing. Erin :)

[Windadct]

I first saw this photo about two years ago, never doubted its authenticity.

Another point is that surfer pics are often through some serious telephoto lenses (1600-2000mm) - the two surfers almost look like they are on the previous swell, so they could easily be 100-200 yards away from the breaking wave. With a wave that size you would not be just sitting there if it was getting close and breaking.

A few years ago we caught the owner of the local windsurfing shop, windsurfing in Long Beach Island NJ on film with big bluefish running in the wave he was riding. It was a morning session and the wave was backlit, quite spectacular. If I showed you a photo you would all be saying it was fake.

He had no idea why we were waving at him to come in, when the blues start feeding, you do not want to be there.

[mrbill]

pretty sure its real. ventura beach ca. is locally famous for the surfing dolphins.

-remember pacific porpoise are huge.... doubt they are scared to swim with humans, 1/3 their size.


been there, seen 'em. did not see them surf, but they were in the breakwaters. less than 15' away from me.

[elcahun]

Lots of discussion about this picture...

DolphinDiscussion (http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/comments/1315)

A google search comes up with the photo dozens of times.

[JJ]

The terms dolphin and porpoise are not interchangeable. These creatures are in two separate and distinct families. Here is a site with some info:

http://nj.essortment.com/whatisdifferen_rkpa.htm

[Paul & Kim]

I've also seen skates (small rays) ride a way like this too