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Sports

Video: Surfer Faces Humpback Whale

The huge whale nearly collides with the woman as a pod of humpback whales look for food in Monterey Bay waters near Santa Cruz—and it was all posted on YouTube.

A surfer nearly had the scare of her life when a humpback whale surfaced to lunge feed on a school of anchovies just a few feet away—and it was all posted Wednesday on YouTube. The woman was floating near Santa Cruz in the northern end of Monterey Bay when the whale appeared.

Humpback whales, each measuring about the length of a school bus, have come about a mile from land in search of food, according to an Associated Press article on The Huffington Post.

Close encounters continue to occur in Southern California waters as thrill seekers try for an up close and personal encounter with these magnificent leviathans. Similarly, in October a Redondo Beach Kayaker swam with a blue whale.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has set up guidelines for whale watchers. Some of those guidelines include:

  • Vessels should not be operated at speeds faster than a whale or group of whales while paralleling them within 100 yards.
  • Vessels should be operated at a constant speed while paralleling or following whales within 100 yards.
  • Vessels should do nothing to cause a whale to change direction.
  • Aircraft should not fly lower than 1,000 feet while within a horizontal distance of 100 yards from a whale.

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