Humpback whales are magnificent creatures.
That’s why a lot of people come to the coast to watch and witness this magnificence.
A pair of whale watchers got more than they bargained for when they signed up for a whale watching afternoon at Avila Beach, California.
Julie McSorley and Liz Cottriel were on a yellow kayak off the coast of Avila Beach when a humpback whale came out of the water right below them.
The whale had its mouth open and swallowed the kayak and two whale watchers before it went back into the water.
A state of disbelief
Everyone around them were so shocked they couldn’t move.
Avila Beach is one of the best places to see the whales up close and personal, so it’s not a surprise there were many other peoples out in the water with them.
But Julie and Liz did not expect to be this up close and personal with the whale. They were watching the whales about 30 feet away.
Then suddenly, it was below them.
“I saw the big pool of fish, the big bait ball come up out of the water,” Julied McSorley recalled. “I saw the whale come up. I thought, ‘Oh, no! It’s too close.'”
That’s what’s called ‘bubble netting.’
The whale will swim up towards a school of fish, blowing bubbles upwards. The bubbles disorient the fishes and they stick closer together.
The whale swims up towards them and swallows the school of fish. And, in this case, Julie and Liz happened to be on top of the fish and got in the way of the whale’s feeding.
Things aren’t always what they seem.
In the video, it looked like the humpback whale swallowed the two whale watchers. In reality, they, along with their boat, were knocked over and they both fell into the water.
“I’m thinking to myself, ‘I’m gonna push.’ Like, I’m gonna push a whale out of the way!” Liz said. “It was the weirdest thought. I’m thinking, ‘I’m dead. I’m dead.’ I thought it was gonna land on me. Next thing I know, I’m underwater.”
They swam back up to the surface where they were rescued by onlookers nearby.
Even viewers couldn’t believe this happened.
“WoW! I don’t think I’d ever be the same after that! Glad everyone that was involved is okay. So scary!” Diana Holderness said.
Some others said it was a memory they’ll never forget and a story they’ll always tell. Good thing it was captured on video so they can show it really happened.
Julie and Liz are doing good.
They weren’t seriously injured although they probably won’t be going back on a kayak to watch whales for some time.
“We got back to the car, I was shaking my shirt and a bunch of fish came out of my shirt,” Liz said.
What would you do?
See the one-in-a-million experience Liz and Julie had in the video below!
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