Kayaking TikToker Goes Viral "Dancing With The Whales"

A viral tweet has caught the attention of thousands as a prime example of just how mysterious and awe-inspiring our oceans can be.

The tweet, shared yesterday by the handle @itsnotpap, has racked up more than four million views. It features a short video clip taken from inside a yellow kayak as a giant whale breaches beside it, twisting in the water just out of arm's reach. The whale can be heard making pulsed calls in the clip.

The sheer size of the animal beside the boat is shocking, a sentiment shared by @itsnotpap who wrote: "Boy I woulda S***ED all in dat kayak omg."

Naturally, Twiter users were curious as to how the original poster of the video ended up in the unusual situation in the first place.

"Why tf he in the middle of the ocean on a kayak like he in the Life of Pi," asked one."It be crazy how people really don't be scared of the ocean like what causes you to go that far out by yourself on a kayak?" asked another

However, this encounter appears to be only one of many.

The original video, which was posted on TikTok by user @pythoncoun on April 20, describes the incident as a "whale encounter" and has garnered more than 23 million views.

A scroll through @pythoncoun's page, however, will reveal that this seemingly once-in-a-lifetime encounter apparently is something of a normal experience for people around the world. The page is full of similar seemingly curated or submitted videos, documenting various whales up close and personal, making clicks and whistles and going about their business.

"That sound is unearthly," commented one user on a video from May 5 in which a man attempts to free a whale caught in a net.

Another video from last month shows a beached orca struggling on the sand. Luckily, a large group of people can be seen teaming up to successfully push the animal back into the water.

The account, which simply describes itself as "dancing with the whales" has an impressive library of videos that regularly garner hundreds of thousands and even millions of views. Many of these videos even include close-ups with animals such as sea lions, whales, dolphins and even sharks, which people appear to reach out and pet.

One user graciously referred to his page as "behind the scenes of National Geographic."

For those who love learning about sea life, there are a plethora of resources out there on TikTok and beyond. In April, Photographer Brian Skerry, one of the people behind the new National Geographic documentary series 'Secrets of the Whales,'spoke to Newsweek about his many experiences with the giants of the sea.