TEAHUPO’O, Tahiti – With all eyes on the ocean during the final day of the Paris Olympics surfing competition in Tahiti on Monday afternoon, a surprise guest appeared: a whale.
At a safe distance from athletes Tatiana Weston-Webb, from Brazil, and Brisa Hennessy, from Costa Rica – who were competing in a semi-final match – the whale breached and gave spectators and photographers the Olympic moment of a lifetime.
It’s not uncommon for wild animals like birds, seals and even sharks to appear while surfing around the world.
In Tahiti, where the 2024 Olympic Games surfing competition was held nearly 10,000 miles away from host city Paris, whales congregate around the islands during mating, birth and migration seasons.
Tahiti also has several protected maritime zones. In April, Pacific indigenous leaders – including some from Tahiti – signed a treaty that recognizes whales as “legal persons,” although such a declaration is not reflected in the laws of participating nations.
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