A viral video has emerged of an encounter between a gigantic whale and an unsuspecting man in a kayak.
Taken in English Bay in Vancouver, Canada, the scary footage shows the man getting up close and personal with nature.
It begins with a man, wearing a red and black wet suit and a baseball cap, paddling through the calm sea.
A strip of land can be seen on the horizon, suggesting he is not too far out.
At first, the kayak bobs up and down upon the water, in a serene shot.
But not for long, as the calm soon changes to something astonishing.
We see the hump of a whale appear above the water, very close to the kayak.
The kayaker somehow manages to stay calm, paddling away from the path of the whale.
However, before he can move away, the whale moves closer.
Suddenly, a giant tail fin the length of the boat emerges from the water.
Coming far above the surface of the water, the tail narrowly misses hitting the boat.
The whale then moves underneath the kayak before disappearing out of the shot.
It seems a lucky escape for the man in the kayak, whose boat would surely have been overturned by the huge creature.
The video, shared on media sharing platform imgur, has had over half a million views, and has received 1,262 upvotes.
While the man in the kayak stayed remarkably calm, the same cannot be said for those watching the video on Imgur.
One user commented: “I know they’re peaceful but no way do I want to get near an animal that large in water.” Another commented that the man in the kayak was “lucky to be alive!”.
In a scary video which circulated online last month, holidaymakers flee as a sea monster approaches.
Moving at the speed of lightning, the animal shoots through the crowds, its characteristic fin visible above the water.
Then it circles an unlucky man who is standing some way away from the rest of the group.
For a terrifying moment, it looks like the man is in grave danger of being attacked.
However, it turns out the creature is actually a seal, rather than the shark it appears to be while under the water.
