Whale watchers off the coast of Southern California were treated to an extremely rare occurrence when they witnessed a gray whale giving birth right beside their boat.
The group departed Dana Point on an excursion with Capt. Dave's Dolphin and Whale Watching on Monday when they came across a whale that was acting strange.
Stacie Fox, who has worked for Capt. Dave’s for three years, told the Los Angeles Time the whale began swimming in circles -- and then they saw blood.
"Normally when you see blood in the water it's not a good sign," Fox said. "But I was like, I bet this is a female giving birth."
And she was right. Fox called it a bucket-list moment.
"It is kinda hard to put into words how amazing it was," she told the newspaper. "I’ve always wanted to see a whale birth but I never thought it would actually happen."
The company posted video on its Facebook page, saying the newborn calf began learning how to swim and bonding with its mother immediately.
"The female even brought her calf over to our boats as if to show off her offspring and say hello," the company said.
Fox said the calf and its mom swam around the boats for about 45 minutes. Capt. Dave's wrote that it was their first live viewing of a birth in more than 25 years of whale watching.
"Gray whales prefer to give birth in the warm and protected lagoons of Baja California, Mexico. The lagoons offer safety from predators such as orcas, as well as warm water for calves who have not yet built up a thick layer of blubber," the company explained. "Although some gray whales do give birth in Baja, there are times when calves just won't wait and are born during the migration."
