14 DAY TRIAL // People who go swimming in the ocean mostly worry about having a dangerously close encounter with a shark. It turns out whales are not all that friendly either.
A surfer in Australia found himself in dire need of medical attention after being knocked unconscious by a southern right whale. It's unclear whether the marine animal actually wanted to harm him.
As detailed in the video above, 38-year-old Tony Spanos just wanted to say “hi” to the whale and did not swim away when the animal approached him.
The marine mammal unexpectedly flipped its tail, and that was all it took for the surfer to lose consciousness.
“I just remember this magnificent whale slowly coming to the right of me and coming for another look.”
“I just kind of felt like talking to it like a dog or an animal, and say ‘hey,’ that was it. Maybe it was giving me ‘high five,’ I don't know,” Tony Spanos told the press.
Luckily, the man did not suffer any serious injuries.