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A man paddle boarding off the coast of Laguna Beach captured amazing video of his close encounter with killer whales.

Through the years, Rich German said he has had several interactions with animals while paddle boarding, but always wanted to see killer whales upclose.

The avid paddle boarder heard about the orca pod swimming along the Southern California coast and tracked their location. By using his GoPro camera, German took video of the whales playing around whale watching tour boats. They even swam underneath his board.

German said he was “too excited to be scared.” He kneeled down at one point because he was worried one of the whales would knock him over.

This story was originally posted on KTLA’s sister station KSWB in San Diego.