{"id":8839,"date":"2025-08-19T07:24:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T07:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/8839\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T07:24:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T07:24:07","slug":"surfing-penguin-shares-lineup-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/8839\/","title":{"rendered":"Surfing Penguin Shares Lineup in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo:<\/p>\n

Photo: Now Now Media \/\/ YouTube<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Surf for any amount of time, and you\u2019re bound to encounter a variety of critters.<\/strong> Dolphins, seals and pelicans are common sights, and the ever-present possibility of a shark encounter<\/a> is never far from mind. A penguin in the lineup, however, still turns heads, though.<\/p>\n

The incredible moment (below) comes courtesy of Alan Van Gysen<\/a>, an African surf photojournalist who was featured in the latest YouTube video from Now Now Media. In it, he described a scene that sounds like something out of a movie (specifically the animated sleeper surf classic Surf\u2019s Up).<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a surfer, surfing the cape, you\u2019re never far from wildlife,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe were in the water, I was filming the surfers and this penguin just rocked up out of the blue.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the bird was not content to remain a spectator. It proceeded to climb up on Van Gysen\u2019s water housing, before making its way to other surfers in the lineup and hitching a ride onto their surfboards.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seemed to be checking us out and seeing what we were up to, really,\u201d continued Van Gysen. \u201cEvery time a set would come,\u00a0 it would actually almost utilize the ocean\u2019s energy to kind of move in and out amongst the surfers. It really did look like the penguin was trying to surf with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s the sort of encounter many would dream of, it\u2019s obviously not a good idea to go out and seek these kind of interactions with wild animals, something that Van Gysen was quick to note. \u201cIt just looked like it wanted company,\u201d he explained. \u201cNone of the surfers actively tried to touch it or go near it.\u201d<\/p>\n