It's behind you! Whale surprises surfer and nearly swallows her whole after lunging out of water in front of beachgoers

By NINA GOLGOWSKI


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'We were crazy to be out there': The woman who captured the giant whale lunging out beside them says she was lucky they weren't swallowed or crushed


Earlier in the week the U.S. Coast Guard warned of a pod of whales approaching the California coast and the dangers they faced to beach-goers, but nothing could prepare these swimmers for what happened to them next.

Idling in the water off Santa Cruz, the glassy-smooth surface beside a surfer and group of kayakers was smashed when two whales plunged, mouth-gaping wide out of the water, nearly swallowing them whole.

The entire scene was caught on camera by one of the swimmers, to her total shock - then and now.

'Size of a school bus:' The approximately 40-ton animal dove it's body out of the water before crashing down beside the swimmers


'We were crazy to be out there,' Barbara Roettger who shot the scene told ABC News.

'You're a sitting duck, basically,' she said.

Floating at Ms Roettger's estimated distance of about a quarter mile from shore, near Santa Cruz, scientists explain the increased sightings of the whales closer to shore as being in result of recent weather patterns luring their pray - fish, not humans - closer to shore.

On Wednesday the U.S. Coast Guard was monitoring the waters precisely where the group was bathing for the whales.

They said a pod of humpback whales, each measuring roughly the length of a school bus, had been spotted unusually close to shore.


'Whale harassment': The U.S. Coast Guard warned of fees starting at $2,500 earlier in the week if swimmers were seen too close to the whales


The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary said no one has been hurt so far but at least one sailboat was damaged earlier this week when it struck a whale.

Penalties for getting too close to the whales by the marine sanctuary and Coast Guard starts at $2,500.

It's called whale harassment, but it can also save bather's lives.

'If a 40-ton animal can lift its entire body out of the water with a couple swipes of its tail, you can image what it can do to a person,' Ken Stagnaro, owner of Santa Cruz Whale Watching told ABC.

Watch the video here:




source:dailymail