Watch a Huge Gray Whale Cruise Super Close to Surfers in California (Video)
When it comes to wild animals and surfing, sharks usually steal the show. From the beautiful shark encounters to the horrific ones, we can't seem to look away. But lately, whales have been making themselves known too.
Days after Christmas, a baby humpback whale was wandering the Honolulu shoreline lost without its mother. Before that, a huge whale shot the Hermosa Beach pier and marine biologists got amazing footage of a whale shark in Hawaii.
Back in September, a surfer was treated to a visit from a southern right whale and her baby. But perhaps the best whale encounter we've seen lately came out of Australia, when a foil surfer got body slammed by a baby humpback and emerged unscathed.
Our latest whale footage comes from California on Christmas Day.
This clip above was shot by Trystan Snodgrass, a wildlife photographer from San Diego.
Snodgrass, known on Instagram as drone_dude_trystan, captioned the post:
"Juvie Gray Whale in the Marine Room turtle town, surprises some surfers."
In the clip above, a huge gray way swims toward two people surfing in San Diego.
It spouts on the way so they know it's coming. The whale gets super close and passes the surfers on the right.
One of them gets up on their knees and points as the whale cruises right by them.
Best Christmas gift ever.
According to NOAA Fisheries:
These large whales can grow to about 49 feet long and weigh approximately 90,000 pounds.
The average and maximum lifespan of gray whales is unknown, although one female was estimated at 75 to 80 years old after death.
Gray whales make one of the longest annual migrations of any mammal, traveling about 10,000 miles round-trip and in some cases upwards of 14,000 miles.
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