Whether you’re driving a car or sailing a boat, you should always know what kind of obstacles are ahead. Most kite boarders know that success relies on a keen eye for things like breaks in the water, boats, and other kite boarders. For a 36-year-old kite boarder Andrei Grigoriev, a recent obstacle was anything but ordinary.
Grigoriev was headed out of the San Francisco’s Crissy Field beach on June 18th. According to the video posted on Grigoriev’s Facebook account, his encounter with the whale frightened him at first.
“The whale appeared to hit me twice,” he wrote as the caption. “First drifted underneath, scaring the hell out of me, then made a turn and in 15 seconds came back on high speed, splashing fountains and rolling. These guys r playing it hard.”
The video begins with an action shot, Grigoriev is clad in an all black wet suit. All of a sudden, he lifts his left hand to cover his mouth, realizing that he is actually gliding on something.
“I was going straight out from the beach when something touched my board from below,” he told Caters News. “For another 15 seconds I had a feeling there was something around me until the whale jumped out of the water right in front of me.’
Despite the shock of gliding over a humpback whale, Andrei is able to hold onto his kiteboarding rig. In an interview with Australian 9News Grigoriev stated that hitting the whale was “completely accidental.”
Whale appearances are becoming more and more common in Northern California. According to the LA Times, the animals have been seen frolicking, providing a welcome sight to tourists, and getting in the path of boats in the Bay.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration advises that anyone who sees marine wildlife keep a 100-yard distance. As an additional protection, the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act is in place to protect whales, sea lions, seals, and other creatures present in the ocean.
Although Grigoriev is still in awe over his encounter with the whale, he told Australian morning show, “Sunrise” that he isn’t letting it deter him from his passion.
“I wasn’t that scared because we all know that whales are not sharks,” he told Sunrise.
This kiteboarder’s encounter with one of the planet’s largest animals is a reminder that we are not the only creatures in the world. As we use the oceans and other resources, we must remember that it is a shared world.
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Source: Caters News, Sunrise, LA Times, 9News
