At first the men were not sure what they were seeing but soon enough they knew they were whales and realized the whales had begun to chase them.

The two fishermen were on their small speedboat near the San Diego Bay when they noticed the marine mammals swimming underneath their boat. “He’s right there!” another shouts as a whale chases the boat, jumping out of the water only metres behind them. “I’m really scared he’s going to bite my arm off”, one of the fisherman is heard saying after a nearby whale had breached and then dove back down. However, they have the popular nickname of “Killer Whales” for a reason.

The video has been viewed over 70,000 times on YouTube and has prompted a discussion around whether the two men should have turned off the motor.

A video of their orca chase was uploaded onto YouTube and shows the powerful orcas just feet away from the stern of their boat.

‘About five miles off Point Loma, we saw the animals but couldn’t determine exactly what they were until they approached our boat.

Despite being a fearsome predator in the ocean, orcas are known to be social and there are numerous instances of humans having close encounters with the whales.