Whale Mugging Happens for First Time Whale Watchers

Occurred on November 6, 2021 / Oceanside, California, USA

Info from Licensor: This encounter happened when I was on an all-day whale watching expedition to celebrate my birthday. We were 17 miles offshore of Oceanside Ca. We had come upon some whales and were sitting in open water when a fellow whale watch naturalist said, “a whale is under the boat.” That’s when this magnificent creature greeted us with a whale mugging! It was exhilarating, thrilling, and emotional. When I saw the barnacles on the whale's face, I lost it! It profoundly affected me with screams of elation, followed by tears of joy!