A lucky group of whale watchers was treated Monday to an up-close look at some humpback whales in Monterey Bay.
Monterey Bay Whale Watching, a tour company based in Monterey, posted drone footage on its Instagram page showing three "incredibly friendly" whales swim right up to the company's boat, dazzling their human audience onboard. At one point, one of the whales rises out of the water as if to take a peek at the whale watchers.
"Sometimes whales express curiosity towards our boat and boy do we feel lucky when they choose to do so," the company wrote in its Instagram post.
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The company noted that the experience was "very rare" and "definitely not something we see every day."
The vessel was in neutral and at a complete stop at the time of the encounter, the company said, adding that the whales approached the boat on their own.
"Never try and approach whales on your boat and never try and “force” an encounter like this on these animals," the company wrote. "We always practice ethical whale watching and leave it up to the animals what they would like to do."
