A pair of kayakers in the waters off a beach in California were "almost swallowed" by a humpback whale that breached and slammed them into the water on Monday, November 2.
Per Fox News, the incident took place close to Avila Beach, which is found along California's central coastline.
"I still have an adrenaline rush!" Julie McSorley told FOX26.
The kayakers, Julie McSorley and Liz Cottriel, were off the coast of Avila Beach, and had been whale watching. The pair initially believed they were far away enough (they were approximately 30 feet away) that they were safe from the mammals.
Soon enough, however, they realized they were far from safe.
"I saw the big pool of fish, the big bait ball come up out of the water. I saw the whale come up," McSorley told FOX26 earlier this week. "I thought, 'Oh no! It's too close.'"
A video shared by onlookers shows the exact moment the enormous creature breaches the surface of the water and manages to turn over the kayak with both of the women inside. Both of the women fell into the water as a result of the unexpected encounter.
Cottriel told FOX26 she thought the whale was "gonna land on me [sic]."
Although the video seems to indicate that the animal had the kayak in its mouth, McSorley explained that their boat had merely been capsized and thrown into the water. When they came back up, the two women were saved by other paddleboarders and kayakers.
Beluga whales enjoy their first swim in a sanctuary after being rescued from China:"We got back to the car, I was shaking my shirt and a bunch of fish came out of my shirt," Cottriel said.
Humpback whales are known to have an active presence around the Californian coast throughout the year.
Harbor officials have advised those nearby to maintain a football field's distance between themselves and the whales in order to avoid potentially being overturned by a whale while in their boats
The officials have since told KSBY-TV that the women whose kayak was recently capsized are, in fact, lucky to be alive.