JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A family who was fishing the First Coast Dolphin Challenge this past weekend got the photo of a lifetime, when a dolphin photo-bombed them as they were taking photos of a prize catch.
"We went out of the Conch House in St. Augustine and were about 50-60 miles offshore near the ledge," Trina Polkey said.
Recommended Videos
Polkey sent in this photo. The family was fishing off of the boat Quality Time, owned by Dr. Jeff Gully. They were getting situated to take a photo of their fish with their tournament number and one of their friends were taking photos. It wasn't until after the tournament when they were looking at the images that they noticed the dolphin in the background.
"They swim and play around the boat pretty frequently but we were all so focused on the fish we didn't even look out at the water," Polkey said. "I wasn't sure if it was newsworthy or not but we all thought it was pretty cool so I figured I would send it in."
In the photo, Polkey's boyfriend Chris Stephens, and Scott Swanby are with his 43.53-pound mahi mahi, also known as dolphin. Her boyfriend's daughter, Christina Stephens, was with her 19.94-pound fish. On the left top corner of the photo, you can see the dolphin jumping up for the camera.
"We see them almost every trip. They love to swim alongside the boat and a lot of times they will ride the bow and play in the wake," Polkey said. "Yesterday we saw a baby jumping out of the water about 50 yards from the boat, some people on the boat saw a free jumping sailfish, and we all saw a free jumping blue marlin. It is an amazing experience out there!"