Surfer captures ‘one in a million’ footage as he’s body-slammed by a whale
An Australian wingfoiler who was hit by a whale and dragged underwater was able to capture some incredible 'one in a million' footage of the moment he was knocked over.
Jason Breen had been wingfoiling when a humpback whale came up from below the water level and knocked the 55-year-old into the sea.
Speaking to 9 News about the whale slamming into him, Jason Breen said he was 'very lucky to be here' after being dragged underwater by it.
Advert
He credits the leash which tied his leg to his board breaking with allowing him to get away from being pulled even further below the waves by the whale.
Breen was able to swim to shore and once safely back on dry land realised that his GoPro had caught the whole thing on camera, including the moment he said 's**t I just got hit by a whale' after making it back to the surface.
"I just went out yesterday morning 10:30, beautiful day, sun's out just behind me," Breen explained.
"Turned around to come back in and I just saw it on my right hand side, it just started to come up out of the water, I knew it was a whale.
"As it got higher and higher it just got bigger and bigger, and I thought 'you know I'm in trouble here' and it just landed straight on top of me.
"Took me down about 20 to 30 feet and then luckily I was able to escape by my leash breaking, so yeah lucky to be here."
Fortunately for Breen, he was essentially unhurt after being slammed into by the massive whale.
Even more incredibly, he also discovered after he made it back onto dry land that someone had been filming the water and captured another angle of the moment he'd been taken out by the whale.
While he'd feared for his life when the whale struck and dragged him under the water, Breen recognised he'd been incredibly lucky for the leash which tethered him to his board to break off.
Breen revealed that it was only because 'something that's not supposed to break, broke' that he was able to get away from the whale dragging him underwater.
People who've seen Breen's 'once in a million' footage said it was 'terrifying' to watch the whale burst from the sea and slam into him.
Joe Harker