A photographer captured the world's imagination this week with a photo of a seal and a whale — but it was the fact that the former was surfing the latter that really left the online community awed.
Robyn Malcolm was on a whale-watching trip off the New South Wales coast when she caught the surprising photo of the fur seal cruising on top of the water on a
humpback whale, the Daily Mail Australia reported.
"At times there was so much going on, you didn't know which way to point the camera," Malcolm told the Mail. "The seals and dolphins were going crazy on top of the water, then the whales would lunge straight through the middle. I managed to get some great shots of whales feeding, but was surprised to find these photos in amongst them, as I didn't see it at the time. I don't think he stayed there for long!"
Although the public has been amazed by the photo of the seal surfing on the whale,
New South Wales whale expert Geoff Ross told the Sydney Morning Herald that one of Malcolm's other photos also struck him. It showed around six whales feeding in a circle that had bubbles in the center.
"They look they are bubble feeding, a very unique behavior," he said. "We've not known humpbacks in NSW waters to feed like this, that's the first time I've seen that happen in NSW waters."
Still, that seal, looking amazingly calm considering how precarious his position must have been, was intriguing, and Ross admitted he'd only heard of one other incidence of whale surfing among the seal population, the Herald said.
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