A paddle boarder in Santa Cruz had quite a scare when a humpback whale surfaced within inches of his board. The whale was feeding and the entire incident was caught on video. Remarkably the paddle boarder was not injured and even managed to stay on his board.

Here’s what video recorder Eric Garcia had to say about the encounter:

“Sunday morning was anything but ordinary. A beautiful morning and glassy waters were the stage to an amazing natural spectacle. After sailing for a while, we were coming back to Santa Cruz harbor and found a large aggregation of marine life feeding on fish. Sea birds, sea lions, harbor seals, dolphins and a humpback whale were the predators. After observing the whale surfacing to breathe several times, we decided to head out. Little did we know that we will see the whale one more time except, this time it came out with its mouth opened and barely missing a paddle boarder who was coming out of the harbor. We could not believe it! He escaped danger twice by centimeters… Fortunately he is ok and we got the action on video!”

Watch the full video here.