Seal spotted surfing humpback whale in Australia

When a pod of whales tucked into a feeding frenzy off Australia there was plenty on the menu, even enough for a surprise guest – a whale-surfing seal.

Photographer Robyn Malcolm, who was whale watching at the time, said she didn’t realise what had occurred until she looked at her pictures and saw the incredible image.

“The only other time [I’ve heard of this happening] was a seal trying to get away from a killer whale”, he said.

Before his eyes, two kayakers were nearly crushed to death by a huge humpback whale.

Whale expert Geoff Ross told Daily Mail Australia called the sight extremely unusual, saying that he knew of only one other instance where a seal rode on a whale.

“We’d seen some fantastic whales coming out of the water, everything was happening so quickly”, Malcolm told The Sydney Morning Herald. This creates a wall of bubbles that the fish won’t swim through, and contains them in one area where they’re easier to catch. “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”.

The humpbacks Mr Malcolm had been watching were in the middle of a feeding frenzy, picking off fish that they had forced into a tight “bait ball”.

Ms Malcolm said this was not the only interesting interaction she had with whales recently. “And I still have it on the camera to prove it”, he added.