Giant Whale Swims Underneath California Surfers

Sep 08, 2020 by apost team

It was just another ordinary day in the water for Dana Point surfers, but a brush with nature left them with an intriguing story to tell. Dana Point Harbor Beach, affectionately known as "Baby Beach," is a festive body of water just south of Los Angeles. It's here that 18-year-old Payton Landaas and his friends got the shock of a lifetime when a giant whale swam beneath them as they made their way out to the waters for a day of surfing and swimming.

In an interview with NBC News, Landaas described the scene: "It was completely surreal and so insane." What could possibly have crossed their path while they were swimming that they'd be on the news doing an interview by nightfall? A whale.

That's right, a mammal that typically weighs in at a cool 200 tons casually swam underneath Payton and his group of friends while they were enjoying the warm California sunshine. Now that's a story that they can tell their kids for a long time to come. Perhaps the most shocking thing in reviewing the video of the incident is that the surfers heading out into the water seemed completely oblivious to the 200-ton presence of the whale.

apost.com

The video footage of the encounter has made the rounds on popular websites like YouTube. How often do you see a group of casual surfers that close to the shore come into contact with a whale? Not very often. Whales aren't entirely opposed to swimming that close to people, but it's not often captured on camera, and it is rarely as surreal as the footage in this video.

If you watch the video, you see the people on their surfboards ready to hit the waters. Only a single person in the video even responds to the presence of the whale. The rest of the onlookers, including Landaas, were simply in shock and awe at the sight that greeted them as they made their way out to the waters for a day of surfing and swimming. What caused the lone swimmer to frantically flee the scene? It was a simple flick of the whale's tail that sent her into flee mode.

Landaas is the person responsible for the incredible footage of the whale's excursion with swimmers. He regularly films the ocean around him with a drone. Drones continue to capture powerful imagery like what you can see in this video, showcasing the encounters that human beings have with nature on a daily basis. Incredibly, many people are just like the folks in this video. They simply don't notice that they're close to a 200-ton animal that's almost indescribable in size.

Landaas continues to be happy to share his footage with organizations like NBC news. His videos in the past have shown such things as sharks and dolphins frolicking with the local human wildlife. Few of those creatures embody the majestic and friendly imagery that locals have of whales that sometimes get a little too friendly with swimmers. Encounters like this are rare and far between, but thanks to Landaas, his friends and the Internet, in general, will have something to really be in awe of for all time.

While other swimmers didn't give interviews, they certainly let people know their reactions in the video itself. With just one swimmer fleeing the scene and only a few others noticing the vast animal, it was a scene that was as serene as it was surreal. 

Have you ever seen anything like this? Let us know in the comments and be sure to pass the story of this incredible incident along to your friends and family!