Tag: surfing sea lions

Surfing flounder ‘hangs fin’ to the hit tune ‘Wipe Out’

“Flounder spend the majority of their lives on the bottom of the ocean but every once in a while they come to the top to catch a wave and hang fin.”

An East Coast photographer has shared footage showing a flounder masterfully riding a wave to the tune of surf music.

Mark Smith Photography described the scene via social media:

“Flounder spend the majority of their lives on the bottom of the ocean but every once in a while they come to the top to catch a wave and hang fin.”

The accompanying music is the hit version of “Wipe Out” by the Surfaris.

In 2021, rare footage showing sea lions riding massive waves off California was matched to the same tune. That clip is posted below.

Sea lions exhibit remarkable prowess while surfing giant waves

Extraordinary footage shows sea lions surfing massive waves at a remote California island in 2021.

A marine-themed Instagram page on Sunday shared footage of California sea lions surfing massive waves in a striking exhibition of power and agility.

Seven Seas Explorer credited Pacific Offshore Expeditions but provided no further details.

We recall the scene vividly because Ryan Lawler of Pacific Offshore Expeditions shared the same footage with For The Win Outdoors hours after the January 2021 encounter. (See both clips posted below.)

Lawler and a documentary crew stumbled upon the surfing pinnipeds at Santa Barbara Island west of Los Angeles.

“As we rounded the southern portion of the island, which has an islet called Sutil Island, we noticed sea lions flying out of the back of the waves. It was an awesome moment,” Lawler said.

“I had never seen that before at this island, which is well known for its sea lions.”

As viewers can see, the sea lions exhibit remarkable prowess on waves generated by a powerful storm to the north.

The footage was captured via high-speed photography, too fast to record sound. But Lawler shared the the same clip to Facebook,  playing to the famous Surfaris tune, “Wipeout.”

That footage is posted above.

Surreal footage shows sea lions on dock practicing high dives

A California whale-watching company has captured surreal footage showing sea lions diving from perches high upon a dock.

A California whale-watching company has captured surreal footage showing sea lions diving from perches high upon a wooden dock.

“It happens every so often if the timing is right when we’re passing by them on the boat,” Kate Cummings, owner of Blue Ocean Whale Watch in Moss Landing, told FTW Outdoors. “It’s always a crowd-pleaser with lots of cheering. I always stop the boat if it looks like one is thinking of jumping off.”

The accompanying slow-motion footage is somewhat bizarre because of muffled cheers from the boat and bellows from other sea lions gathered in the foreground, as if comprising an audience.

Cummings’ video provides what appears to be an example of playful  behavior and is reminiscent of extraordinary footage shared by FTW Outdoors in 2021, showing sea lions riding and leaping through massive waves near Santa Barbara Island.

That footage, captured by a documentary crew with Pacific Offshore Expeditions out of Newport Beach, is posted below.

Ryan Lawler, owner of Pacific Offshore Expeditions, described what he had witnessed as “an awesome moment.”

Lawler added: “I had never seen that before at this island, which is well known for its sea lions. So we stayed there for 20 minutes, observing and waiting for the sun to break up the fog. Then we dove [at another location] for about 90 minutes and came back, but all the sea lions had disappeared.”

Watch: Sea lion catches a perfect wave, and it’s beautiful

Video footage surfaced this week showing a sea lion’s masterful ride on a small wave in turquoise waters at an unknown destination.

Video footage surfaced this week showing a sea lion’s masterful ride on a small wave in turquoise waters at an unknown destination.

The sea loin’s movements are fluid and seemingly effortless during a brief exhibition that includes two aerials before the pinniped gracefully exits the wave near the shore.

The video appeared Monday on a Twitter feed operated in the Netherlands with no information beyond the title: “Sea lion riding a wave.” (At the time of this post, the footage had garnered more than 500,000 views.)

FTW Outdoors traced the video to the source, Dylan deHass, a photographer based in Australia. His footage is featured below.

DeHass said he captured the footage with the help of a drone last August at a remote beach in Esperance, in Western Australia.

RELATED: Sea lions surf giant waves in ‘awesome’ display caught on video

“It was alone,” deHass said. “They use the waves to travel the beach in search of food.”

Reads one of the comments (obviously from a surfer) beneath deHass’ post: “Best thing on Insta… by a country mile.”

–Image courtesy of Dylan deHass Films

Sea lions surf giant waves in ‘awesome’ display caught on video

When an enormous swell slammed California last week, expert surfers took to the waves. But the true stars, it could be argued, were sea lions.

When an enormous swell slammed California last week, expert surfers took to the waves. But the true stars, it could be argued, were sea lions.

The accompanying footage shows California sea lions exhibiting remarkable prowess will riding and leaping through massive waves off Santa Barbara Island, west of Los Angeles.

The footage was captured by a documentary crew, which included a National Geographic cameraman, on a Jan. 7 Pacific Offshore Expeditions outing. (The Facebook version is accompanied by the Surfaris’ hit, “Wipeout.” The Instagram video has no sound.)

Ryan Lawler, who runs Pacific Offshore Expeditions, told For The Win Outdoors that the crew was hoping to capture underwater footage at a remote dive spot, but persistent fog led them on a search for a sunny patch.

RELATED: Surfing flounder? Bizarre phenomenon caught on video

“On the exposed side of the island the swell was huge but we found some sun,” Lawler said. “As we rounded the southern portion of the island, which has an islet called Sutil Island, we noticed sea lions flying out of the back of the waves. It was an awesome moment.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ-CssnpkCE/

“I had never seen that before at this island, which is well known for its sea lions. So we stayed there for 20 minutes, observing and waiting for the sun to break up the fog. Then we dove for about 90 minutes and came back, but all the sea lions had disappeared.”

While sea lions are powerful swimmers and and famously agile, scenes such as these are rarely observed. Lawler and the crew headed back to the island Thursday – as high surf continues – to try to capture drone footage of the same event.