One lucky whale watcher managed to capture stunning slo-mo footage of a humpback whale that breached terrifyingly close to their boat.

Kendra Leak was filming as one huge humpback spiralled into the air and crashed back down into the sea off Newport Beach, California.

She described the encounter as "a thrilling moment no one on the boat will ever forget."

The group of whale watchers were then left in the wake of the 30-ton marine mammal as it slammed back into the water.

Leak is a volunteer whale naturalist and event coordinator for the American Cetacean Society - Orange County Chapter, a whale and dolphin conservation group.

She told Newsflare: "The whale was part of a 'competition pod' of four humpback whales - likely made up of one female and three males competing for her attention."

The conservationist also volunteers with the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center and the Oiled Wildlife Care Network to recover birds affected by oil spills.

This 30-ton humpback whale breached 50 ft from a small boat off SoCal on Sunday 10/17, thrilling the 12 whale-watchers onboard. The wake from the whale's breach was so large and close it rocked the boat and washed over the side.

The filmer, Kendra Leak, a whalewatch naturalist with the American Cetacean Society, told Newsflare "the whale was part of a 'competition pod' of four humpback whales - likely made up of one female and three males competing for her attention."

She said it was "a thrilling moment no one on the boat will ever forget."

The video was taken aboard a Newport Coastal Adventure boat, approximately 18 miles SW of Newport Beach off of Catalina Island.



Yes, you can name me in the storyline. I am a mental health researcher at Chapman University, (studying prenatal stress and child development) and animal lover.

I am a board member, volunteer whalewatch naturalist, and the social events coordinator for the American Cetacean Society - Orange County Chapter (whale and dolphin conservation group http://www.acsorangecounty.org/).

In addition to providing naturalists for local whale watch boats and participating in community outreach and education, we also educate new naturalists and have a current class in Orange County of over 50 students, which I help facilitate and instruct.

I am also a volunteer with the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center and the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN). I was recently activated to respond to the Huntington Beach oil spill through OWCN, and took time off my day job to work as a Wildlife Recovery Responder (part of the team that recovers oiled birds on beaches etc for transport to the care center).