The animal kingdom never ceases to amaze me. From amazing maneuvers to unbelievable skills, we’ve seen many things in the wild that were thought to be virtually impossible.

I already knew that dolphins were very intelligent, so much so, that even military establishments have experimented with them in various capacities.

Now, a wild bottlenose dolphin has pushed the envelope of astonishing feats and it was done during a simple session of showing off for humans.

Here’s the splashy photo, along with some commentary on this event from GrindTV. Frankly, if not for the picture, I’d have never believed it.

Volunteer naturalist captures extraordinary image showing peculiar water formation around midsection of leaping mammal

Steve O’Toole was photographing playful dolphins Sunday afternoon off Dana Point, California, and did not realize until later that he had captured an extraordinary image.

It reveals a circular disc of water around the midsection of a leaping bottlenose dolphin, making it appear as though the mammal is hula-hooping.

O’Toole is a volunteer naturalist for Dana Wharf Whale Watch and a board member for the Orange County chapter of the American Cetacean Society. He said passengers aboard the Ocean Adventure encountered about 50 offshore bottlenose dolphins, which began jumping in the swift catamaran’s wake.

“This particular dolphin caught my attention because when leaping out of the water, it started twisting its body, whereas most dolphins only leap,” he said. “When the activity ended, I briefly looked at my camera’s screen to make sure the pics were there.

“I noticed something unusual with this particular picture and didn’t think much about it, knowing I’d take a closer look when downloading pics to my PC.”

The photo, which might be one of a kind, has been widely shared on Facebook and other websites.

Alisa Schulman-Janiger, an ACS researcher, said she has photographed thousands of dolphins during a span of 30 years, and has never captured or seen a similar photo.

Was I right? Is that amazing or what? Even in captivity, this is something that’s never been achieved or even imagined possible.

Did I hear someone say close up? Well, here it is!

I could go into a whole production about dolphins, but I don’t want to take anything away from this astonishing trick. Could it be just an accident or does this dolphin know exactly what he’s doing? Maybe dolphins can do this kind of thing, no sweat! Of course, I’ve never heard of anyone witnessing such an event, let alone getting evidence.

This is something I’ll never forget…..

Thanks to The Grind and Steve O’tool for providing us this content.

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