Watch This Paddleboarder’s Extremely Close Encounter With an Orca

A New Zealand restaurant owner named Luke Reilly was doing some relaxing stand-up paddleboarding when an orca whale popped up out of nowhere. Naturally, things got a little less chill.

“He popped up about 10cm away from the back of my board,” Reilly told 3NEWS. “I was a bit nervous thinking, ‘what’s this guy going to do?'”

Reilly happened to have his GoPro with him, so he managed to film the encounter. He admits he was a “bit freaked out” while it was happening, but ultimately figured the animal was just curious.