UPDATE: Pete Thomas has a fairly in-depth article about basking shark sightings on the rise off SoCal on his Outdoors, Action, and Adventure blog.

YouTube user DanaPointWhaleWatch uploaded a video of a recent chance encounter with a basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) off Southern California’s Dana Point. The sight of the large filter-feeding shark appeared to provide some excitement for the boat full of whale watchers.

Another basking shark sighting was also reported off La Jolla earlier in the week, according to a KTLA report.