Pig Makes Big Splash For Marine Life

Sunshine, beach, waves, a board, and....a pig??  Yes, a surfing pig has become the latest online viral hit. Matthew Bell posted a video, captured with a board-mounted GoPro camera, on Youtube last month, showing himself hitting the waves with his two-month-old pet pig Zorro.

"We've had a couple of pigs and I always thought it would be fun to surf with one," Bell told the New Zealand Herald. 

Figuring it "could be a fun idea" to teach a pig how to ride his longboard, he soon realized that Zorro took to it..well, like a pig takes to water.  Of course, their first appearance on the beach was exactly what one would expect, beachgoers looked at them like they were crazy. Matthew found himself fielding such questions as whether pigs can swim (apparently they stick their snouts up in the air and go for it!).

It wasn't long before the piglet became a hit on Mt Maunganui's Main Beach.

Since the video posted, 27-year-old Matthew and Zorro have been featured in newspapers, TV shows, and websites around the world. However, going viral isn't the focus of this innovative surfer and his porcine companion. They're utilizing all of this new found media exposure to draw attention to the group Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM), hoping to increase awareness of Maui's marine life, especially the critically endangered dolphin.

So, the next time you're at the beach, watching the surfers catching waves,enjoying your Whale Tails Chips and salsa, and think you see a pig on a longboard...you could be right!

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