One of two divers in the footage, Shawn Stamback, said that he and dive partner Francis Antigua were in the water with snorkeling gear and cameras passing the time before they could go down for their next scuba dive. At that time, the humpback whales could be seen feeding about a quarter-mile away from the pair.

According to Stamback, he and Antigua were floating around in the water, trying to get some shots of the whales from a distance, when suddenly all the sardines started swimming frantically.

Jay Hebrard and Jeremy Bonnett aboard the charter boat were able to capture the incredible encounter on video. About half-way in to the short, one minute video, you catch of glimpse of the frenzied sardines just before the whales lunge upward in full gulp-mode.