Humpback Whale Shows Appreciation to Flute-Playing Paddle Boarder

A professional flutist was greeted by a humpback whale last weekend as she was paddle boarding and playing her flute in the Pacific Ocean.

Viviana Guzman, 52, of Montara, California, started playing her song, “Native Soul” when a juvenile humpback whale swam right next to her, bumping her board.

Guzman, who travels the world playing the flute, shot the footage with a GoPro attached to her chest.

“I play my flute for the whales, and they come! I was paddle boarding in Half Moon Bay, CA when all of the sudden a juvenile humpback leaped out of the water and lunge fed RIGHT NEXT TO ME,” Guzman wrote on her YouTube channel on July 16.

The two friends usually go out on paddle boards near the Miramar Beach Restaurant in Half Moon Bay, which is where they first spotted the whales in early July. However, last weekend was the first time they had such a close encounter with one of them. 

Soloist with the Hanoi Philharmonic Clyde Mitchell, conductor pic.twitter.com/TZFSBPwcab

— Viviana Guzman (@FluteQueen) March 8, 2016

“In the 20 years I’ve lived on the coast they’ve never been this close,” Guzman said of the whales, “I love going out on my paddle board and I have started taking my flute with me and they seem to like it,” Guzmán told CNN.

Towards the end of the video, which has already accumulated more than 13,000 views on YouTube, one can hear Guzman’s friend shouting, “She came to you!”

A YouTube user said she was thankful that Guzman was ok.

“I’m soooo glad u didn’t get hurt ! We were there last Sunday 7/10 & my hub & daughter seen some Wales [sic] in the distance,” she wrote.

Another commenter said had he been in Guzman’s shoes, he would have gone “into cardiac arrest.”

Guzman is currently in Villarrica, Chile, where she is due to perform.