Shark photobombs mom surfing competition

COFFS HARBOUR, Australia, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- An amateur photographer captured an incredible, if scary, moment during a moms' surfing competition in New South Wales Sunday.

Steph Bellamy was watching the special mothers' heat at the Coffs Harbour Boardriders Club competition at Macauley's Beach Sunday when she spotted a splash out among the waves.

Bellamy, 47, was already snapping photos of the surfers on her smartphone, when a shark leapt out of the water, landing her an image worthy of "Shark Week."

"I took a shot, but as I stood up there was a splash and I thought, 'what was that?' and hit the button to take another photograph," she said. "Then I heard the judges say, 'Wow, what was that?' and I expanded the shot out so I could have a look."

"When the judges came in and looked at the photo, they had a look and all went 'Holy [expletive] -- it's a shark'," she said.

Warding off accusations of Photoshop in advance, Bellamy said surfers in the water saw the shark too, identifying it as a mako, spinner or thresher, about 8 feet long.

"It is very real," she said. "There were two mums out there who saw it and they all say the same thing. It was 110 per cent real. It was not photo-shopped or anything."

Judges suspended the surf competition for about 15 minutes as participants made their way to the beach. A few minutes later, the competition resumed.

"Nobody was rattled. Everybody was really cool and blown away that I got the shot," she said.