Video: Surfing Swans Show the Gold Coast How it’s Done
OutdoorHub Staff 07.26.16
Australia’s Gold Coast is a hot spot for surfing. The surfing community in Queensland is actually so strong that there is even a suburb known as Surfers Paradise. What all this comes down to is that if you’re serious about surfing, this is the place to be, even if the “you” in question happens to be a swan.
Four black swans have been spotted catching waves at Kirra on the Gold Coast. Conditions must have struck one swan as just right because that particular bird got right down to business, catching wave after wave. Soon thereafter, the rest of the flock joined in the fun, catching a single wave as a trio.
Kelvin Mill kept the camera rolling during the surfing swan shenanigans, documenting the birds as they were seen riding waves into the shallows then returning to deeper water to catch the next set. When the swans caught a wave, they were able to perch perfectly atop it, riding almost to shore and dodging the ankles of bystanders. After the wave puttered out, wings started flapping, carrying the birds back to sea, and it was onto the next.
Because black swans are known to have a nomadic nature, it is possible this particular group travels about on a quest to catch the perfect wave. In that case, the Gold Coast is the logical place to launch a swan surfing team. Cowabunga!
