Friends Julie McSorley and Liz Cottriel were among several other kayakers obeserving humpback whales off the coast of San Luis Obispo, California, on Monday. As it turned out, they got a much closer look at one than they would have preferred.
The angle of video footage shot by another nearby kayaker makes it look as if their kayak very narrowly escaped being gulped down by one of the massive aquatic mammals which surfaced directly beneath them. However, scary as it indeed was, McSorley claims that the pair’s kayak was never actually in the whale’s mouth.
Thankfully, the two emerged unscathed. After uprighting their vessel again with assistance from other kayakers, they decided they had had more than enough and paddled back to shore. According to Cottriel, “We got back to the car, I was shaking my shirt and a bunch of fish came out of my shirt.”
“I still have an adrenaline rush!” Julie McSorley said hours after the incident.