A small group of kayakers experienced a rare sight this past sunday when they encountered a group of humpback whales feeding in San Francisco Bay. Lyrinda Snyderman and Dick Mallory from Petaluma, California were kayaking in the bay when they spotted a group of feeding seabirds and went to investigate. What they encountered was a group of feeding humpback whales, an encounter not often experienced in San Francisco Bay.

The whole experience lasted about 45 minutes.

This is what Snyderman had to say about the rare encounter:

“We saw them on occasion. Three at once coming up from the bottom like a Polaris missile with their mouths open to capture all the water. We had never seen this behavior before in the bay.”

Whale experts believe the rare encounter is due to the abundance of herring in the bay, a humpback whale food source.

Watch the full video here.