When Rip Curl held its annual Tube Masters competition at Cave Rock just outside Durban, South Africa, 19 competitors decided to crash the event . . . without surfboards. The synthetic-finned surfers, Ricky Basnett and Llewellyn Whitaker looked on, hoping, perhaps, to glean a few new moves.

Professional photographer John Pauling has been surfing for nearly 40 years and capturing the sport on film for 30. "This is one of the best shots I've ever taken," he said. There may have been some luck, but the shot was no accident. Pauling knew the May to July coastal sardine run attracts scores of dolphins and sharks. (Or, as he explained, they snack on the gamefish that snack on the smaller gamefish that snack on the sardines.) And he knew that the dolphins like to play in big waves, even with humans around. So, when the swells started stacking up and Pauling spotted a pod of dolphins in the distance, he readied his camera. "You see one or two dolphins surfing from time to time, but this many is unusual."

Doug Lansky