Breathtaking Footage Shows Two Women On A Kayak Almost Being Swallowed By A Humpback Whale
The biblical story of Jonah and the Whale is one of the most popular tales for adults and children alike. Jonah was commanded by God to go to the city of Nineveh to deliver a message of their destruction for their wickedness against Him.
Instead of following God's orders, Jonah ran away from Him and set his sails toward Jaffa. They encountered a huge storm, and the sailors realized that Jonah was at fault for angering God.
Jonah admitted that he had to be thrown overboard to calm the storm. The sailors hesitated and refused to follow Jonah's reasoning, but the storm kept battering them until they eventually threw Jonah into the raging waters.
Jonah was saved when he was swallowed by a great fish, believed to be a whale. He spent three days and three nights in the whale's stomach, where he prayed and renewed his vow to deliver God's wishes.
God commanded the whale to vomit Jonah out of its stomach, and so Jonah lived. Julie McSorley and Liz Cottriel came close to experiencing what Jonah went through, but with a more gnarly outcome.
The two friends were out kayaking off Avila Beach when the accident happened. Their near-tragedy was captured on camera, and it quickly went viral.
Julie McSorley already went whale-watching once before in Avila Beach
When her friend Liz Cottriel came to visit her, Julie suggested they go kayaking to see the whales. Liz was incredibly hesitant about joining her friend, saying that she was scared of the ocean, feared sharks, and was simply uneasy about anything she couldn't see in the water.
Julie convinced her to go and reassured her that whales would never capsize them and that their kayak was very stable. Julie should have listened to Liz.
Liz went with Julie just for the experience
Sam McMillan happened to be there to capture the humpback whales when they surfaced to eat. He was merrily taking photographs and didn't even realize that Liz and Julie had almost been swallowed by the whale.
Hearing other paddle boarders yell "Are you okay?" to Julie and Liz clued him in to what was going on, but it wasn't until he got home and saw his photos that he realized the gravity of what had happened
Julie and Liz themselves didn't realize that they were so close to being whale food because everything happened so fast
The two women followed the humpbacks as they surfaced
They watched swarms of fish from a safe distance, surely followed by the whale that feeds on them. After a few minutes, the women would go to where the whale had just been and wait for the next swarm of fish to show up.
Julie was documenting their whole kayaking adventure, and nothing incredible happened for a while
Until the fish appeared right next to their kayak...
... and the next thing they knew, they had been dumped from their stable kayak
Julie saw the swarm appear right next to their kayak but thought nothing of it because she had seen whales breach right next to kayaks with nothing of note happening. Except for this time, they were lifted out of the water and spent a few milliseconds in the whale's mouth before being dumped into the ocean.
A few other paddle boarders and whale watchers managed to capture the incredible incident
Everyone was shocked and thought for sure that Julie and Liz were harmed
The other kayakers immediately went to the women's rescue. Liz and Julie reassured them that they were okay and were able to paddle back to shore.
They didn't realize what had happened until they saw the videos later on. The other people told them that they had been in the whale's actual mouth before being dumped into the water.
Other than a few fish in their shirts, Julie's missing car keys, and one hell of a story to tell, the two friends went home safe and unharmed. Julie said she won't be kayaking near any whales in the future because she learned that the animals need their space, but she will definitely paddle near dolphins, otters, and seals.
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