Whale sightings are always a pretty magical experience. People dedicate entire vacations to spotting them, and sometimes, those vacations are sadly rewarded with no whales at all. They’re elusive, they’re beautiful, and you never know when they might pop up next. This paddle boarder learned that the hard (or depending on how you look at it, easy) way when she was out playing her flute to encourage the humpback whales of Half Moon Bay to get near her. Everything seems to be going smoothly when suddenly, she’s met with the surprise of a lifetime. If spotting a whale was her goal, well, let’s just say she accomplished it. We won’t spoil the surprise (because when you see it, your heart will skip a beat) but we will tell you that this is just about as close to a whale as one should ever hope to get. Make sure to keep watching to see this amazing moment in slow-motion, too.