A canoer thought he was getting a quiet day on the water Saturday. Instead, he was treated to an unforgettable up-close encounter with one of the ocean’s greats off the coast of Encinitas.

Craig Callender, an environmental ethics professor at UC San Diego, was on his outrigger about 2.5 miles from the shoreline when a swarm of hundreds of birds overtook him. It was a sight, but what really caught his attention was a blow amid the chaos. Then, Callender spotted a Bryde’s whale breaching under the flock.

“It was popping up all over the place, and very fast,” he told NBC 7. “Then all of a sudden it was near me — then headed right at me! I put my GoPro in the water and aimed under the board. The big beast was no more than 10-15ft away.”

The Bryde’s whale, part of the Baleen family, averages 40 to 55 feet in length. The protected mammal isn’t common for this time of year off the coast of San Diego because the species tends to prefer warmer waters to our south, said Nicole Schriber, researcher with UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The whales are typically seen alone or in small groups, Schriber said. Days before Callender’s encounter, though, a mother and calf pair were also spotted off the coast of San Diego.

An abundance of anchovies in San Diego’s deep sea is likely the draw. It is also attracting fin whales, dolphins and humpback whales, the latter of which are migrating south at this time of year.

“We also had a lucky visit last week from a pod of Eastern Tropical Pacific killer whales, who came to hunt the dolphins that gathered on anchovy schools,” Schriber said. “The ocean is extra exciting right now!”

Schriber said it is rare to have a whale pass a person that closely, but urged people not to approach sea creatures themselves.

“Never chase a whale or intentionally put yourself in its direction of travel. In some rare cases, whales will choose to come investigate a person, but that only happens if you are being patient and respectful,” she said. “You might see whales a hundred times before you get your first close pass.”

That was the case for Callender, who has a passion for the ocean, both personally and professionally, and spends about 1,500 miles at sea each year.

“I’m always on the lookout for critters, but this was something else.”

If you see a distressed or dead marine mammal stranded on the beach, please stay at least 50 yards away and call (877) WHALE-HELP (877-942-5343).