Incredible footage has emerged capturing the moment a humpback whale swam underneath a kayak and almost capsized the kayaker.
Berthold Hinrichs was kayaking in waters near Senja Island in northern Norway when he saw a pod of humpback whales breaching in the water nearby.
His camera shows as the whales swim closer and closer to his kayak. Finally a humpback whale surfaces right next to him.
“[It] did not capsize [the kayak] but me and my camera got wet,” Hinrichs told news.com.au. “Some minutes later it happened again and then I was on the back of the humpback,” he said.
The video shows the moment the whale swims beside him and then directly under his kayak, crashing into it and making Hinrichs’ kayak shake.
“I got a lot of water in my kayak which froze to ice, so I had to return to the harbour,” Hinrichs said.
According to Hinrichs, there were about 30 humpback whales and 50 orcas in Senja bay that day.
Hinrichs is an avid adventurer and nature enthusiast, whose Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/berthold.hinrichs#!/berthold.hinrichs ) contains magnificent photos and videos of many up-close encounters with sea creatures.
Humpbacks are a highly migratory species, found in oceans all around the world. There are estimated to be 6000-8000 humpback whales in the North Pacific and about 10,000 in the North Atlantic. Humpback whales are classified as endangered.
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