Robyn Malcolm got quite a surprise while photographing whales off the coast of Eden, Australia. The area is a known hot spot for marine life, hence why Malcolm came here to capture photos of whales feeding. While she hoped to get some neat photos she never expected to take a photo of a seal riding a humpback whale.
In an interview with ABC News Malcolm said, “All the animals were feeding in quite a frenzy and when they’re feeding they’re quite spectacular. Basically I had the camera on and was just clicking away madly because there was so much going on. I was just hoping that something would be in focus.”
Malcolm noticed something strange going on in the water but wasn’t sure until she got home what was really going on. When she started going through the images and deleting the bad ones she noticed the photo of a seal riding a humpback whale.
Malcolm said, “My guess is that the whale lunged for food and when it came back up the seal just happened to be above it.”
Malcolm sees seals all of the time along the coast, although they don’t usually catch rides on whales. She said they tend to hang out with people on kayaks and are very playful. “They’re the clowns of the ocean. They’re a bit of show-offs.” So while it’s very unexpected and rare to see this, Malcolm wasn’t entirely surprised.
Malcolm said some people doubt that the photo is real, but she knows it’s 100% authentic and will always keep the photo on her memory card in proof.
