•The once in a lifetime encounter happened in the water at Souza Rock, two miles from Morro Bay in California, USA
•Ball of fish surrounded Shawn Stamback and Francis Antigua and began leaping out the water
•The hungry predators swam towards them looking for dinner and the men got caught up as the whales emerged
A terrifying video has been released of the moment a pair of divers were almost submerged and eaten by two humpback whales.
The once in a lifetime encounter happened as the pair casually bobbed in the water at Souza Rock, two miles from Morro Bay in California.
Suddenly a ball of fish surrounded Shawn Stamback and Francis Antigua and began leaping out the water as the hungry predators swam towards them looking for dinner.
The 40 ton beasts exploded out of the water just inches from Mr Antigua and as they splashed back below the surface the divers quickly darted back to the safety of their boat.
Mr Stamback said: ‘We could see the whales feeding about a quarter of a mile away when we got into the water to pass time in between dives.
‘As we were floating around in the water hoping to get some shots of the whales in the distance all of a sudden the sardines started going crazy.
‘They weigh up to 40 tons and feed on schooling baitfish like these sardines
They take in vast amounts of fish and sea water as they launch forwards.
‘I had a feeling the whales knew where we were in the water so missed us intentionally – which is pretty lucky as I was right in the middle of the meatball.’
Friends Jay Hebrard and Jeremy Bonnett captured the heart-in-mouth moment on video from the safety of the boat which Shawn and Francis quickly swan back to as they captured their breath.
Mr Stamback added: ‘It was a good moment to have the camera out – they captured the whales in full gulp-mode.’
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