He captured the terrifying incident on his own camera, as did a bystander back on land who just happened to be filming the surfer from afar.

Windsurfing.TV tracked Breen down, where he detailed the moment he realized, “I’m in trouble, here.” The man took note of the whale when its head first emerged and watched as it came to tower over him before it “literally landed straight on top of [him].”

He estimates it dragged him down up to 30 feet deep after it got caught on his leg rope. He remembers thinking, “It’s done. What are you gonna do?” But then he felt something “pop and release.” The webbing of his safety leash—something you normally wouldn’t ever want to fail—ripped, freeing him.

Some have questioned why he didn’t release the leash himself, as it was just velcroed around his ankle, but he pointed out how a person doesn’t exactly think straight in a near-death situation.

Paul Nettlebeck, the other videographer, ceased filming after he realized what had happened, assuming that Breen was likely dead.

“I wanted to keep filming but then I thought someone might have just died, so I stopped filming and I got triple zero ready,” he told 9 News, referring to the country’s version of 911.

But Breen came out of the situation unscathed, though his “equipment got a bit busted up.” He believes the whale that got him was a calf, as it had very smooth blubber. Were it older, it would have been covered in barnacles, which could have caused him more serious injuries.