A Humpback whale nearly “high-fived” Cimeron Morrissey with his tail while she was kayaking in Monterey Bay, California! She and her friends were watching a huge raft of sea lions (likely eating anchovies) when two whales approached them.
Cimeron wrote, “I wasn’t scared (at first) but I was certainly shocked that he chose to swim right up to me. He dove under my kayak, which was amazing and exhilarating! But then his back arched and came to the surface about 3 inches from my boat, which freaked me out a bit. I wondered: hmmm, maybe this one needs contact lenses? Then his enormous barnacle-encrusted tail came out of the water and was about 12 inches from my face, which pretty much made my eyes pop out of my head. So pardon my swearing in the video – I was rather stunned!”
Her friends got a similar thrill when another whale came up and dove down right next to them.
“Note: We were NOT kayaking toward the whales and it is not advisable – nor is it legal – to do so, Cimeron cautioned. “It’s important to respect whales and just let them be. I think we must have been kayaking atop a huge ball of anchovies since the whales came toward us.”
If you liked this video you might like the video of kayakers who had an amazing close encounter with a pod of whales and these whale watchers who had a once-in-a-life experience.
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