One of the Herald's eagle-eyed photographers spied a pod of bottlenose dolphins "frolicking in the autumnal sunshine" off Newcastle Beach on Wednesday.
With a mid-week break in the weather it was a good chance for all mammals, marine and otherwise, to enjoy the surf.
Unlike common dolphins, which are around during whale season, bottlenose dolphins can be seen in Newcastle waters all year. Founder of CoastXP Dominic May says they are "good fun" too.
"Quite often in whale season, which is starting now, we get to see dolphins interacting with the humpback whales," he said.
"The front of the whale is like a boat and creates water pressure for the dolphins so it's like assisted swimming for them."
Mr May said there haven't been many dolphins around recently due to the flooding.
"Now that the waters are starting to clear we are seeing dolphins come back and we are hopefully in for a good whale watching season," he said.
"With the size of dolphin pods around I wouldn't be surprised if we start to see some bottlenose calves about as well."
Readers shouldn't pack up the brollies just yet, however, because the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecasts a chance of showers through this weekend and into next week. The BOM predicts the NSW east coast is three times more likely to experience higher than average rainfall until August.
