One surfer got more than he bargained for when he found himself in the path of a jumping dolphin.

The man was paddling with his surf board at El Porto, Manhattan Beach when a pair of oncoming dolphins appeared in front of him.

The dolphin leaped into the air, narrowly missing the man, who got a spectacular, close-up view of the animal.

One surfer got more than he bargained for when he found himself in the path of a jumping dolphin

The man was paddling with his surf board at El Porto, Manhattan Beach when a pair of oncoming dolphins appeared in front of him

In a series of shots, the dolphin can be seen suddenly leaping from the water

Photographer Dave Weldon, 63, was in the right place at the right time to capture the incredible moment earlier this year.

In a series of shots, the dolphin can be seen suddenly leaping from the water.

The animal appears to head straight for the surfer as he watches on with his arms up in the air in a ‘surfers greeting’.

But the animal narrowly misses him and dives back down just in front of him.

The animal narrowly misses him and dives back down just meters in front of him

Photographer Dave Weldon, 63, (pictured) was in the right place at the right time to capture the incredible moment earlier this year

Mr Weldon described the incident, saying: ‘It all happened so fast – I had just finished photographing a surfer to my left when out of the corner of my eye something caught my attention over to my right.

‘As quick as I could swimg around my camera I barely realised what I was about to focus-lock onto before I fired off a burst of shots capturing the dolphin and surfer’s encounter.

‘The two dolphins were heading south a few dozen metres in front of the surfer.

‘Seeing the dolphins, the surfer stuck-up his arms in sort of a ‘surfer’s greeting’ when all of a sudden one dolphin caught sight of the surfer, turned towards the surfer, sped-up and went into a jump while rolling onto its left side – appearing to want to get a better look at the surfer as it dove back into the water just a few meters in front of the surfer.’