Paddle boarders' 'once in a lifetime' encounter with a Pygmy whale

A pair of paddle boarders had a close encounter with what appears to be a Pygmy Right Whale while on a camping trip.

Port Lincoln locals, Henry Cordell and Bailey Fraser were paddle boarding in Lincoln National Park, South Australia earlier this week when a curious whale popped up next to their paddle boards.

"We saw a dorsal fin pop out of the water and initially we thought it was a dolphin, later in the day we had got a bit closer and we said wow this is a lot bigger than a dolphin," Cordell said.

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The boys described the whale as curious and fun as it played with them for two to three hours.

"It was pretty amazing how it was swimming around with us and being playful, it was like a puppy dog," Fraser said.

After two hours, the paddle boarders decided to jump in the water to get a closer look at the creature to figure out what it was.

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Cordell captured the whole thing on his GoPro, and can be heard repeatedly saying "this is sick" while the Pygmy Right Whale swam besides them.

At one point in the video, the playful whale swims directly at the boys before turning away, as if it was playing chicken with them.

"It was a once in a lifetime kind of thing," Cordell said.

National Park Ranger Peter Wilkins guessed it was a Pygmy Right Whale based of its features.

Interestingly, the breed of whale was thought to be extinct until 2012.