Whale of a tale

Imagine you are snorkeling in the middle of the ocean. All of a sudden a bunch of small fish start swimming to the surface all around you. What would you do? If you ask a diver from Morro Bay, he would tell you to pray.

The video has taken the world by storm. “We didn’t even know we got it all on video until like, we got back to the house,” said diver Sean Stamback.

They did and millions of people have watched it. Stamback runs a company called SLO Divers. He’s been in the water off the coast of Morro Bay for a dozen years and around the world for much longer.

“I knew that there was a predator under there chasing those smaller fish and you know the first thing that went through my head was it was probably a sea lion,” said Stamback.

Boy was he wrong. Instead he had an encounter of a lifetime.

“I heard a bunch of commotion and stuff over by the boat and I pop my head up and here are these two like big mountains sticking their heads out of the water with water pouring out the sides of their mouths and you know with all the fish and everything. As soon as I had seen that, you know, it just like instinct kicked in and I am getting back on the boat as fast as I can,” said Stamback.

Media outlets from around the world want to hear from the man who was almost swallowed by a whale. During the interview with Newschannel 3, the BBC called from England. “They couldn’t get me on because of the royal baby. Oh well,” said Stamback.

It seems the royal baby is getting a little more attention than Stamback and the whales. But he says that’s OK, he’s just happy to be alive. “It’s just surreal. I still, I look back on it and it’s like, I can’t believe that happened,” said Stamback.