A 38-year-old surfer has been knocked unconscious by a whale, at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia.
Bishan Rajapakse was sharing waves with a friend when a 15-metre humpback whale flicked him off his surfboard.
"I saw a huge black shadow underneath the water and at that moment the whale breached and it was an amazing, amazing sight. This whale was magnificent, it was so curious and inquisitive", says Rajapakse.
"She came back and was coming directly towards me, but quite elegantly and gracefully, and I was just mesmerized by this whale and talking to it like you'd talk to a nice dog or something".
"I said, 'Oh hello, how's it going?' At that point I thought, 'Let's just take a chance and see how it goes.' I was like a stunned mullet.", he explains.
Bishan Rajapakse was knocked by the big whale and almost drowned after being left unconscious. Fortunately, other surfers at Bondi saved him.
In fact, the surfer was hit by the whale's tail and the impact so intense it hurled him three meters sideways through the air.
The doctor born in Sri Lanka is recovering well from a shoulder injury and concussion and he will return to the waves of Bondi Beach soon.