Julie McSorley and Liz Cottriel were kayaking in San Luis Obispo Bay in California when the humpback suddenly breached from right underneath them.

Thankfully for us, the moment was caught on video from multiple angles:

When the unexpected occurred, Julie McSorley and Liz Cottriel were kayaking in San Luis Obispo Bay in California.

McSorley and Cottriel were observing the huge marine animals feeding when the event happened. McSorley apparently convinced Cottriel’s to go see the humpbacks despite her worry.

” Her reaction was, ‘No, I don’t like the ocean. I’m scared of sharks. I’m scared of anything I can not see in the water.’ And I so ignorantly informed her, ‘Oh, they’re never going to dump you over. The kayaks are extremely steady. I’ve never had an problem,'” McSorley recalled.

For the first hr in the water, everything was peaceful. Both kept an eye out for schools of fish, frequently known as “bait balls,” and waited for the whales to dine.

Cottriel and McSorley can see tiny fish swimming all about them as they waited and watched for the next bait ball.

” So I knew it was going to be extremely close, however again, I ‘d seen whales breach best following kayaks before. So my mind was like, this is going to be, you recognize, super cool,” McSorley shared.

” And then all of a sudden the boat lifted up and we were dumped in the water extremely, very quickly.”

Cottriel claimed that as the whale closed in on them, she can see its mouth and knew she was doomed.

“Next point I know, I’m underwater.” Thankfully, the women survive, and they now have a fascinating story to tell.