Call me Ishmael

Windsurfer Eric Kramer collided with a gray whale near Crissy Field Beach in the San Francisco Bay on March 24, in an incident captured on video by a witness.

There are believed to be six gray whales within the bay as they migrate north from Mexico, and experts remind the public to maintain at least 100 yards distance from marine mammals to prevent accidents.

The footage shows the moment Kramer is forcefully thrown from his board as the gray whale surfaced.

“It was a ‘whale’ of a day,” he wrote on social media. “Please be cautious and respect wildlife, I had reduced my speed greatly because I had seen a couple whales in the area but on my last run back it just popped up right in front of me.”