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Humpback whale greets kayaker off Kits beach

Whale. Photo by The Canadian Press.

The video has more than 2,000 likes on Instagram. Local and national media outlets have written about it.

Social media user @johnnyvanuck never thought a regular afternoon in the beach would put him on the spotlight.

But what happened to him Monday afternoon was pretty amazing.

According to his own Instagram post, he was aware that a humpback whale had been feeding in the waters between Kitsilano and Jericho beaches, but he didn't expect to have such a close encounter with it.

"My heart started racing when I saw small fish swimming to the surface in a frenzy, I knew it was close," he wrote. 

The video is pretty exhilarating.

(Click on the text below if your browser doesn't show the vid)

 

 

Other social media users have also experienced close -or unexpected- wildlife encounters that have turned into Internet gold. Check them out.

The "OMG, OMG" cougar-experience.

 

The "Oh sh*** " mountain lion experience.

 

Bears in the swimming pool.

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