The semifinals of this summer's Olympics surfing competition in Tahiti was briefly interrupted by a surprise guest on Monday: a whale.
As Tatiana Weston-Webb from Brazil and Brisa Hennessy of Costa Rica battled it out in the last four of the competition, the whale provided photographers with the Olympic moment of a lifetime when it launched itself into the air behind them.
Fortunately, it was a safe distance away from the two surfers as they contested their semifinal event.
Yet in one incredible picture, the whale in question can be seen photobombing Weston-Webb and Hennessy by leaping out of the water behind them.
It's not uncommon for wild animals such as birds, seals, and even sharks to appear while surfing around the world.
In the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, where the 2024 Olympics surfing competition was held almost 10,000 miles away from the host city of Paris, whales gather around the islands during mating, birthing, and migration season.
Tahiti also has several maritime protected zones. In April, Pacific Indigenous leaders - including some from Tahiti - signed a treaty recognizing whales as 'legal persons'.
However, such a declaration is not reflected in the laws of participating nations.
Monday's surfing events in Tahiti not only included the spectacular whale photobomb, nevertheless, with USA's Caroline Marks also claimed gold in the women's competition.
Marks got the better of Weston-Webb in the all-important final after the Brazilian saw off Hennessy in the viral whale semifinal earlier in the day.
'Your whole life goes into a moment like this,' Marks said after becoming an Olympic champion. 'It’s beyond all my wildest dreams.'
