An Australian photographer has captured a rare moment of animal communion with a shot of a fur seal surfing a humpback whale off the New South Wales coast.

Robyn Malcolm had been photographing a pod of whales on a feeding frenzy 500km (310 miles) south of Sydney.  But she only realised she had taken the unusual picture when she went through the photos later, she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Animal experts say that witnessing such a partnership is rare.

New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife whale expert Geoff Ross told the paper the coupling was very rare but he had heard of it happening once before.“The only other time was a seal trying to get away from a killer whale… the seal hopped on the back of the pectoral fins of a humpback whale,” he said.

Ms Malcolm insisted that the photo was not doctored.

“I’m positive, because I don’t know how to use Photoshop. And I do still have it on the camera so I can prove it,” she told the newspaper.

The meeting of seal and whale is the latest in a series of serendipitous animal piggyback rides which have been captured this year.

In March, amateur photographer Martin Le-May shot this picture of a weasel clinging on to the back of a woodpecker at Hornchurch Country Park in east London.

Bosom buddies? Sadly the picture actually shows a baby weasel attacking the woodpecker

In June, a family walking in a forest in central Florida spotted this raccoon hitching a ride on the back of an alligator.

Mr Richard Jones told local television station WFTF that he “snapped a lucky picture right when the gator slipped into the water and before the raccoon jumped off and scurried away”.

Here we have a mother polar bear giving the cub a helping hand/swim.

The Ili pika (Ochotona iliensis) is a species of mammal in the family Ochotonidae, endemic to northwest China. After its discovery in 1983, it was not documented again until 2014. Its population is declining due to largely unknown causes, and it is currently considered to be endangered.

The Ili pika somewhat resembles a short-eared rabbit. It is large for a pika, with a length of 20.3–20.4 cm and a weight of up to 250 g. It has brightly colored hair and displays large rusty-red spots on forehead, crown, and the sides of the neck.

It is endemic to the Tian Shan mountains of northwest Chinese province Xinjiang. A recent census indicated that the Ili pika may have been extirpated from the Jilimalale and Hutubi South Mountains.

Almost nothing is known about the ecology or behavior of the species. The Ili pika has low population densities. It is mostly a diurnal species, but may exhibit nocturnal activity. Only one to two litters are produced each year, but litter size for this species is unknown.

Above photo has nothing to do with this story. Just wanted to use the pic.

In an incredible video from Ireland, a sleeping tiger at the Dublin Zoo had a ferocious reaction to being woken up by its fellow feline.The footage from a family’s visit to the zoo begins innocently enough, with a young girl mimicking a tiger as it comes prowling towards the glass.But when the tiger rouses its companion from a serene slumber, the scene becomes rather unsettling and the toddler reels back in terror as the two big cats prepare to do battle.Fortunately, it appears the tigers were able to work out their issues without resorting to violence, despite some tense moments when it appeared the conflict could get ugly.While the incident may have been a surprise to the little girl, for anyone who has ever been woken up by an annoying roommate, it probably looked all too familiar.