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Video: Dolphin jumps on young WA surfer

Astounding footage has been posted to YouTube of a dolphin leaping out of a wave and landing on a young West Australian surfer.

The 13 year old, junior champion surfer Jed Gradisen, was hit on the back and shoulder but escaped with only minor injuries.

The dolphin punctured a hole in the fibreglass surfboard in the incident in Kalbarri.

The footage was shot by Jed’s father Andrew, according to local paper Perth Now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4GFpOjUO4w

Jed said he thought the dolphin was as shocked as he was after the incident.

Jed Gradisen

WA under–14 state surfing champion Jed Gradisen. Photo: Instagram

In the video he says the leap was such a long one that he had a few seconds to react, so he jumped off his board.

“It came straight for me”, he said.

“In my dreams I wouldn’t dream about anything like that.”

It was the second incident of the day for Jed, who was on a borrowed board after breaking his own earlier in the day.

Andrew Gradisen was filming Jed and his brother Ben, also a champion, when he noticed a pod of about 10 or 12 dolphins jumping.

He said he saw a splash through the viewfinder – there was a kerfuffle in the water but he didn’t realise what had happened.

“Then one of boys holds up the board and I could see daylight through it. The dolphin jumped straight on him and put his nose through the board.

“The dolphin’s nose was caught in the board and it had to shake its head to get free. It was pretty wild.”

– with agencies

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