See California paddle boarder’s up-close encounter of largest mammal, the blue whale
A video shows a paddle boarder getting about as close as you can get to a blue whale while off the coast of Southern California.
The clip posted by ViralHog on Sept. 6, 2022, shows the paddler’s close-up encounter of the whale. Blue whales are the largest mammal in the ocean — and in the history of the planet.
Bill Clements took the video with his GoPro, according to ABC7.
“Holy sh--!” Clements yells.
He keeps paddling and the whale swims alongside his board.
At one point in the video, Clements sees the whale underneath his paddle board and captures a great underwater shot of the mammal.
Clements paddled with the whale for more than an hour, according to UPI.
“Fear was overshadowed with excitement as I was in awe to be in the presence of this amazing creature,” Clements wrote in a post on Instagram.
The encounter took place in August 2022.
