A popular California dog-surfing competition was cut short Sunday after worsening ocean conditions prompted judges to cancel the final round, citing concerns that the waves had become too hazardous for the canine competitors.
Nearly 100 dogs took to the water at Del Mar Dog Beach for the 21st annual Helen Woodward Surf Dog Surf-a-Thon. Hundreds of spectators gathered in the coastal community to watch the four-legged surfers battle the waves.
The competitors came in all shapes and sizes, riding surfboards with help from their owners. Some dogs wore goggles or flotation vests as they steadied themselves in the breaking surf.
In the tandem division, dogs shared boards or surfed alongside their human partners, adding another layer of excitement to the annual event.
Conditions shifted as the day continued, however, with the tide moving in and the waves becoming increasingly challenging.
Judges eventually called off the Best-In-Surf final after concluding that the water was no longer safe for the dogs to continue.
Images from the tandem dog division showed several competitors wiping out together as the stronger waves swept through the course.
The event featured separate big-dog, small-dog and tandem divisions. Under the usual format, leading competitors from those heats advance to the final Best-In-Surf round.
Organizers had strengthened safety measures for this year’s competition, restricting water access to three-person teams made up of a handler, a center flagger and a retriever, according to the Helen Woodward Animal Center.
All participating dogs were also required to wear flotation vests while riding their boards.
Among those photographed at the event was Ryan Rustan, who embraced his dog, Sweet, after the pair finished their heat.
Rustan and Sweet were also captured riding a wave with Steve Drotter and his dog, Rosie, during the competition.
Other pups were photographed riding toward shore on their boards, including a white dog wearing blue goggles and a pug in a red shirt riding a matching red surfboard.
The annual fundraiser benefits animals waiting to be adopted through the Helen Woodward Animal Center, a private no-kill nonprofit founded in Rancho Santa Fe in 1972.
The center serves more than 90,000 people and 10,000 animals each year through adoption, education and therapeutic programs.
Dogs competing in the Surf-A-Thon are separated into weight classes ranging from 1 to 20 pounds, up to 86 pounds or more.
The event also traditionally includes a Freestyle Surf competition for multi-dog teams and human-canine pairings, along with a canine costume contest.
Many of these canine surfers dedicate weeks to training before they ever set paw on a surfboard.
The Helen Woodward Animal Center has previously partnered with SoCal Surf Dogs for lessons at Del Mar Dog Beach, where dogs learn to balance on boards on land before moving into shallow-water wave practice.
Sunday’s Best-In-Surf final was ultimately canceled after the rising tide and rough waves made conditions too dangerous for the dogs to continue.
