{"id":392079,"date":"2026-01-05T00:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T00:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/392079\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T00:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T00:30:08","slug":"did-that-just-happened-to-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/392079\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Did That Just Happened to Us?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A Bryde\u2019s whale Brydes whale surprises divers \u2013 by Emily Marzilli via SWNS<\/p>\n

A free-diving instructor had a once-in-a-lifetime moment when a massive Bryde\u2019s whale suddenly emerged during a feeding frenzy in Mexico\u2019s Pacific waters.<\/p>\n

Emily Marzilli of Baja California Sur was diving near a giant sardine bait ball, which is a survival tactic for small fish against predators, when something extraordinary happened.<\/p>\n

Without warning, a massive whale surfaced, and took a huge bite of the shimmering circular mass of fish, then vanished as soon as it appeared.<\/p>\n

The brief two-minute encounter left Emily and her fellow divers in shock and awe, a rare experience that as divers can only be dreamed of.<\/p>\n

Magdalena Bay is an area renowned for its \u201cNational Geographic-level action\u201d during sardine season.<\/p>\n

The group had discovered the bait ball, which can grow to the size of a car.<\/p>\n

Striped marlin, measuring up to two meters long, were circling the formation as the divers maintained a safe distance of 50-60 feet.<\/p>\n

When the marlin began attacking the bait ball, the feeding frenzy created a cloud of foam that obscured their vision.<\/p>\n

\"\"A Bryde\u2019s whale surprises divers observing bait ball by Emily Marzilli via SWNS<\/p>\n

\u201cOut of nowhere, this Bryde\u2019s whale came and just took a huge bite out of the baitball and just swam away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The massive marine mammal appeared suddenly from the cloudy water like magic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHalf of it was (spent) honestly in shock because you are expecting to see fish and then all of a sudden there\u2019s this 20-30 ton whale that\u2019s right in front of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

LOOK:\u00a0Beached Whale Faced 6 Hours of Lethal Sun and Dryness, Locals Form Bucket Brigade to Save it<\/a><\/p>\n

The Bryde\u2019s whale is a baleen whale belonging to the same group as blue whales and humpbacks. It has no teeth, but has two rows of baleen plates.<\/p>\n

\"\"Brydes whale surfaces for tour boat (File photo by Auckland Whale and Dolphin Safari \u2013 CC BY-SA 4.0)<\/p>\n

The encounter lasted only about two minutes, but its impact was profound. The five divers found themselves looking at each other afterward, wondering if \u2018that just happened to us or not.\u2019<\/p>\n

After the whale departed and the bait ball disappeared, consumed by both fish and whale, the group returned to their boat.<\/p>\n

WONDERFUL NEWS: Humpback Whales Are Singing More: Number of Songs Has Doubled as Food Sources Became More Abundant (LISTEN)<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had no idea that there was even a whale in the proximity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the whale comes out of nowhere, it totally surprises you,\u201d Marzilli said. \u201cThose are interactions that you can only dream of and wish to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

IF YOU\u2019VE NEVER SEEN ONE, Share the Bryde\u2019s Whale With Ocean Lovers on Social Media\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Bryde\u2019s whale Brydes whale surprises divers \u2013 by Emily Marzilli via SWNS A free-diving instructor had a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1313,64,63,6344,2184,5036,8212,128,7819,18204,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-392079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-marine-life","12":"tag-mexico","13":"tag-ocean","14":"tag-photography","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-surprise","17":"tag-whales","18":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}