Rich German – that’s his name, by the way, he’s not a wealthy man of German origin – had always wanted to see a killer whale in the flesh, so naturally the keen stand-up paddle boarder and whale enthusiast’s curiosity was piqued when he heard that a pod of Orcas had been spotted journeying south from Long Beach, California.

The following day, when he saw a group of boats gathered together several miles out to sea from Laguna Beach, he grabbed his SUP and set out to have a look, on the off chance that the boats had come accross the Orcas. The lengthy paddle turned out to be well worth the effort; German was clearly over the moon after coming into such close proximity to these majestic creatures. Luckily for us he had his GoPro with him. Things start to get a little fuity just before the two minute mark, and at one point he worries he’ll be knocked off his board by an Orca passing directly beneath him. Orcas kept in captivity have been responsible for a number of human fatalities, but no human has ever been harmed by a killer whale in the wild.