Lunging humpback whale nearly swallows up surfer, kayaker

A woman on a surfboard and two people aboard a kayak were nearly engulfed by a humpback whale that charged out of the water, its mouth agape, just a few feet away. Barb Roettger's video of the amazing encounter, which occurred near Santa Cruz, Calif., was posted Wednesday. The incident is one of several recent close calls in the area, where a small pod of humpback whales has been surface lunge-feeding on anchovies unusually close to shore. They've become a major draw for kayakers and boaters and at least one kayaker has been capsized, and a sailboat was struck by a whale. This circus atmosphere has led to an enforcement presence in an attempt to keep people at a safe distance from the potentially dangerous leviathans.

"We had our enforcement guy out on the Harbor Patrol boat yesterday trying to clear people away from the whales," Paul Michel, superintendent for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, told the Santa Cruz Sentinel on Wednesday. "We were out there again today on the water but of course the whales moved off. Once the bait fish went away the small pod dispersed. Wherever there is food they will be, so they could come back and we will keep enforcement going through the weekend."

Officers with the California Department of Fish and Game and Santa Cruz Harbor Patrol also have been on the water cautioning boaters and kayakers, explaining that the whales are protected by federal law and harassing them in any way can draw fines of between $2,500 and $32,000. People for the most part were being cooperative.

Humpback whales, which can measure to 50 feet and weigh 40 tons, are easy to locate because while feeding, they herd giant schools of anchovies to the surface, and birds diving on the bait fish give away the presence of whales. Of course, when the whales are lunge-feeding vertically, breaking the surface with open mouths spilling with anchovies, they're nearly impossible to miss from any nearby vantage point.

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dam those ppl came close to getting eatin i still dont see the big deal about going and watching some whales

That's crazy! Lucky no one got hurt but how awesome would it have been to watch so close...

lmao i would have shit me self if that was me lol

I normally don't get spooked when diving, but no way would I be sitting in the middle of bait swimming around me while the birds are circling and wales are feeding.

Luckily the DFG was watching closely and ready to write a ticket, for safety reasons of course.

Hey do they cover the seal also?? The animal protection??

Mendozauly wrote:Hey do they cover the seal also?? The animal protection??

Yes. All seals are protected under the Marine Mammal Act of 1972. All marine mammals such as whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, and sea lions are protected.

On a side note so are Opossums. I know a guy who is fighting a felony because he put an Opossum in a cage and dropped it off in the woods a few miles from his home after it attacked and killed his pet dog. Apparently it's against the law to relocate one even if it's made your yard it's home and threatens your family and children.

Really?! If it killed my dog I wouldn't have put it in a cage. So, that was a nice thing he did.

n2deepfsw wrote:Really?! If it killed my dog I wouldn't have put it in a cage. So, that was a nice thing he did.

Yeah I feel the same way. He was more concerned with the thing attacking one of his kids and I can't blame him him for what he did. However he's looking at a maximum of $50k in fines and up to 5 years in jail since it's a protected species and a felony to relocate them.

I can't believe there charging him with a crime, he just relocated the animal. If it attacked and killed his dog what would have happened if it was one of his children. I believe there was no option for him.

LOL, Sorry but I know that even a proted animal can be killed if it's attaking a human and especialy a child. I had a friend that shot and killed two breadding montain lion. They had killed two red nose pit's and charge after his son that was crying for his dogs to come back and stop fighting the mountain lion. He shot and kiiled them both with his 12 gauge and several buck shot's. he was never charged. Did not ever come out in the new's.
Sorry family first above all, I would have made a nice big hole in the back yard and be done with it. The less people that know the better and maybe no one needs to know. Sorry but I dont care when it come down to my little princes, she cant defend her self. That is why god gave her a daddy that will !!!! NO SYMPATHY

wait when were opossum protected those things are all over shot those things in ohio at my dads @#&* those things they play dead and then try to bite you when u get close ppl get rabies from them

Mendozauly wrote:LOL, Sorry but I know that even a proted animal can be killed if it's attaking a human and especialy a child.

That's just it, there wasn't an attack on a "human" it was just his dog, but he wasn't going to wait around for that to happen before he did something and neither would I.