A bodyboarding instructor in South Africa usually teaches humans — but earlier in the year, he encountered a different kind of student when a small penguin hopped on his board.
And the feathered student — an endangered African penguin — managed to keep its balance as it stood on the board, waiting for just the right wave to take him to shore.
"We had an insane encounter with the endangered African Penguin during a bodyboard session in Cape Town," Coach Aden Kleve wrote on Instagram, along with footage shot by photographer Seth Buncome. "One we will never forget!" (See video below.)
As an aside, although most reactions to the video were filled with awe, some of the commenters were paranoid, warning that a penguin on his board can only mean one thing: Get the hell out of the water!
"There's a reason he's on that board mate! Predators around," said one, along with many other similar statements, such as, "He's looking at the shark below you," and "I'd be getting right up on that board too…you're not alone."
Well, I've heard of seals jumping on boats to get away from orcas, so maybe there's some truth in what these alarmed commenters were saying, but this coach-and-penguin duo made it out alive. And, as the coach said in a later video, "it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
Previously: Runaway penguin home after 18-mile ocean adventure
