A woman on a surfboard and two people aboard a kayak were nearly engulfed by a humpback whale that charged out of the water, its mouth agape, just a few feet away. Barb Roettger's video of the amazing encounter, which occurred near Santa Cruz, Calif., was posted Wednesday. The incident is one of several recent close calls in the area, where a small pod of humpback whales has been surface lunge-feeding on anchovies unusually close to shore. They've become a major draw for kayakers and boaters and at least one kayaker has been capsized, and a sailboat was struck by a whale. This circus atmosphere has led to an enforcement presence in an attempt to keep people at a safe distance from the potentially dangerous leviathans.

"We had our enforcement guy out on the Harbor Patrol boat yesterday trying to clear people away from the whales," Paul Michel, superintendent for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, told the Santa Cruz Sentinel on Wednesday. "We were out there again today on the water but of course the whales moved off. Once the bait fish went away the small pod dispersed. Wherever there is food they will be, so they could come back and we will keep enforcement going through the weekend."

Officers with the California Department of Fish and Game and Santa Cruz Harbor Patrol also have been on the water cautioning boaters and kayakers, explaining that the whales are protected by federal law and harassing them in any way can draw fines of between $2,500 and $32,000. People for the most part were being cooperative.

Humpback whales, which can measure to 50 feet and weigh 40 tons, are easy to locate because while feeding, they herd giant schools of anchovies to the surface, and birds diving on the bait fish give away the presence of whales. Of course, when the whales are lunge-feeding vertically, breaking the surface with open mouths spilling with anchovies, they're nearly impossible to miss from any nearby vantage point.

A dauntingly close encounter this week involving a kayaker and two humpback whales in California's Monterey Bay is sure to fall under a believe-it-or-not type of scrutiny. But the encounter was captured by a reputable photographer and authenticated by several sources.

Paul Schraub, a freelance photographer hired as part of a marketing campaign by the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council, was shooting Tuesday from aboard a small boat when the humpbacks emerged vertically, surface lunge-feeding on small bait fish, directly next to the kayaker (see video report below).

Christina Glynn of the Visitor's Council told the San Jose Mercury News that the photo shoot was intended to make prospective business visitors aware of the special whale-watching opportunities off the region's coast. The humpback encounter occurred off Seabright State Beach in Santa Cruz County, at the northern edge of Monterey Bay.

The bay is known for attracting a variety of large marine mammals, including humpback whales, which gathered recently to forage on massive schools of anchovies. What's remarkable is that the humpbacks, which are famously gregarious, did not crash down upon the surface. Rather, they just slipped gently downward and the kayaker, while undoubtedly awestruck, was unscathed. And surely, Schraub earned his paycheck and then some.

In the long run this may be a war, but today the aerialists won the battle in Santa Cruz.

Due to a lagging South Swell, delays and lulls attempted to sour an otherwise great day of competition at the O'neill Cold Water Classic. Heats 1-12 of the first round were run at the fabled point at Steamer Lane.

The list of heat winners reads more like the Modern Collective cast plus the entire ...Lost/Mayhem team than a typical WQS heat sheet. Mason Ho, Ratboy, Cory Lopez, Kolohe Andino, Nate Yeomans, Davo, Luke Davis, Dusty Payne, Evan Geiselman, Julian WIlson, Wilko, Miguel Pupo. All moving on to Round Two after solid performances in head high rights at the Lane. Innovative surfing: rewarded.

A peaking South Swell should see competition resume tomorrow morning. Watch it here.

O'NEILL COLD WATER CLASSIC ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Mason Ho (HAW) 12.53, Jason Collins (USA) 12.10, Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 11.87, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 10.03
Heat 2: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 12.37, Cory Lopez (USA) 9.20, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 7.24, Brent Dorrington (AUS) 4.83
Heat 3: Kolohe Andino (USA) 16.63, Richard Christie (NZL) 13.90, Michael Dunphy (USA) 9.93, Rudy Palmboom (ZAF) 9.06
Heat 4: Nathan Yeomans (USA) 14.90, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 13.23, Adam Robertson (AUS) 12.07, Sunny Garcia (AUS) 11.87
Heat 5: Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 13.10, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 11.77, Gavin Gillette (HAW) 10.86, Jonathan Gonzalez (CNY) 9.37
Heat 6: Chris Davidson (AUS) 13.94, Hizunome Bettero (BRA) 12.50, Austin Ware (USA) 11.33, Tim Reyes (USA) 10.90
Heat 7: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 15.34, Willian Cardoso (BRA) 9.80, Brian Toth (PRI) 7.17, Roy Powers (HAW) 7.16
Heat 8: Luke Davis (USA) 15.37, Joel Centeio (HAW) 10.60, Alain Riou (PYF) 8.03, Nicholas Squires (AUS) 7.40
Heat 9: Nat Young (USA) 15.27, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 13.30, Heath Joske (AUS) 12.24, Kevin Sullivan (HAW) 7.17
Heat 10: Dusty Payne (HAW) 15.67, Dion Atkinson (AUS) 13.84, Joan Duru (FRA) 11.73, Dale Staples (ZAF) 8.47
Heat 11: Evan Geiselman (USA) 11.50, Thiago Camarao (BRA) 11.07, Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 10.77, Jeronimo Vargas (BRA) 6.66
Heat 12: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.47, Lincoln Taylor (AUS) 13.10, Mitch Crews (AUS) 12.86, Matt Myers (USA) 9.90

The scaffolding is up, trialists ready, alternates ready, seeded surfers ready, flannels and beanies: on.

Sleepy Santa Cruz is awoken once a year to host the O'neill Cold Water Classic at the iconic Steamer Lane on the Westside of town. The third and final jewel in the CWC series, this event carries ASP Prime points, as well as dtermining the overal CWC champion. Currently, after events in New Zealand and Scotland, Aussie Brent Dorrington leads the CWC ratings, with Adam Melling close behind.

The trials should be under way tomorrow morning, with Round One to follow. Classic fall conditions should provide a combination of small NW and SW swells to keep the surf in the playful range through the first couple days of the waiting period.

Watch the thing here.

D'oh! It's probably the best collab. I have seen in a long time, maybe ever. Santa Cruz skateboards and The Simpsons, Duff beer, Homer and Bart, Check out the interview and the whole lot of the best decks made to date...
@ Santa Cruz Skate

The Simpsons debuted in 1989 and are entering their 23rd season. Bart has been a skate icon for all this time, is this really the first time he's collaborated with a legit skate brand?

This is the first time Fox has partnered with a skateboard hardgoods brand in the U.S. Bart is quite the veteran and did take skateboarding to the mainstream even before Hawk. We're stoked

That being said, what was the genesis for this project? Did The Simpsons come to you, did Santa Cruz approach The Simpsons?

We approached 20th Century Fox with the idea, looking to do a collab. As it turned out, there were huge Santa Cruz fans at Fox.

Check out full exclusive interview here