Went to The Beach 4 out of the last 6 days. This is why you should all live in SoCal.

Day 4, at Huntington, we were out in the line-up and, just as a set was starting to roll in, a dorsal fin broke the surface of the water. I was in the process of catching a wave at the time, and only saw a splash out of the corner of my eye. I had just enough to time to inwardly wonder if I just saw what I thought I just saw before I was busy riding a decent wave. Paddling back out, my thoughts were confirmed, so I paddled all the faster and coasted into the middle of 4 or 5 dolphins playing in the water. They were obviously the real locals, and were taking their rightful place at the front of the line-up.

And for the record, maybe I’m naive, or maybe it’s just because I’m in the water so much, but when I see fins I first thing “dolphin”, and maybe then “genetically mutated sea zebra”. “Shark” is like, 28th on the list.

I’ve seen dolphons in the water before, but never this close (10 feet at the closest), and never this many all at once. As the next wave rolled in, the dolphin closest to me aimed himself (herself?) towards the shore, paused just long enough for the wave to catch up to him, and then launched himself, riding the wave in.

Coolest. thing. ever.