A black swan event

  • Author(s)
    Dr Penny Berents
  • Category
    Science
  • Published
    07 May 2014
  • Read time
    2 minutes

A Black Swan is caught on video.....body surfing!

On Easter Monday, while running along the beach between Dee Why and Long Reef, I stopped in amazement when I spotted a black swan in the surf.

I have never seen a black swan in the surf, although I have since learnt that black swans have occasionally been observed in the ocean. But then the swan caught a wave and surfed into the beach – and it did it again several times.

I watched along with other amazed early-morning beach goers as the swan paddled out and caught waves into the beach several times.

Body surfing swans have been reported once before at Kirra on the Gold Coast in December 2013. These rare events created a great deal of interest from local surfers on both occasions!

Dr Penny Berents
Senior Fellow