With lots of splashing in the water, Tom Graham “kept our eyes peeled” from shore as he videotaped a friend catching a wave, thinking a shark was creating the disturbance. Little did he know, it was a seal, and it was trying to catch the same wave as his friend.

Graham’s friend turned on the wave just as a seal was shooting through the same wave and going airborne in front of him. The surfer turned just in the nick of time, avoiding a collision.

In the video description, Graham wrote that they thought a shark was swimming about, adding, “Next thing, my mate James is surfing and all of a sudden a seal launches itself out of the water, dropping in on his wave and almost hitting him in the action.”

The surfer stayed on the wave before making a turn and wiping out.

Photo courtesy of ViralHog.

Also on FTW Outdoors: Montana’s Madison River is a fly-fishing mecca; photos help prove it