Surfer Almost Swallowed by Whale

Wohahhhhhhh !!.. I never going to swim in the sea again

A woman floating on a surfboard near Santa Cruz, California almost ended up on the lunch menu for a humpback whale over the weekend. Barb Roettger had her camera rolling as two hefty whales popped out of the calm waters not far from the unsuspecting surfer and a pair of kayakers.

A pod of humpback whales has been hanging out off the Santa Cruz coast, noshing on anchovies that flock to the area to feed on plankton. The woman found herself in the middle of a feeding frenzy called lunge feeding, which occurs when whales herd anchovies and shoot straight up out of the water with their mouth wide open to catch the fish.

The whales have had quite a few dangerous close encounters with humans and boats in recent months. Whale watchers are warned to stay at least 100 yards away from the feeding area. Roettger says she has now gained a greater respect for whales, their feeding patterns and will now only spectate from the decidedly safer dry land.

Whoah! That was close!
I'm not a fan of swimming in the sea or any other body of water for that matter.
This just reinforces my fear!

she wasnt even that close. she was like a good 20 yards away. the camera guy was way closer

reply to post by Zanbaktouofknowledge


The 'she' is the person behind the camera.

reply to post by Zanbaktouofknowledge


Well, 20 yards away is definitely way closer than I'd like to be when a whale leaps out of the water, mouth-first.

Cool video! I would be freaking balls if that were me. How many massive Whales are there cruising around California?

Reminds me of Nemo

'Mine Mine Mine'

Looked like it was a close call!

The title alone made me rofl in real life.

I love nature.

It hates us

Apparently whales tend to try to avoid people out in the water when doing this. There's a lot of idiots who paddle out in kayaks and on surf boards when whales are feeding close to shore to watch up close. That doesn't mean it's not dangerous to do this, it's incredibly dangerous because one accidental flick of the tail and a person could be totally crushed, and it would be their own damn fault for getting so close.

I think it's sort of like seeing a fly in their soup for the whale. They want the fish, but there's this strange ape sitting on a stick close by, so they try to eat around us. We're probably not palatable for them. Now, a sperm whale might not, balk at eating us,they are more general meat eaters (though giant squid seems to be their preferred dish. Mmmmm, mega calamari!)