Whale's tail slaps girl in face

The saying "whale of a tail" has never seemed so appropriate.

A not-so-gentle giant of the deep struck Canadian woman Chelsea Crawford in the face with one of its flukes while she was whale-watching off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, on Sunday.

The video was recorded by Crawford's friend Jordyn Rivet, a fellow member of a four-month development program run by Canadian charity LiveDifferent.

The up-close footage of the whale would already have been remarkable even if it hadn't, uh, tried to wave hello to the young women.

According to Rivet's description of the video on YouTube, Crawford was "fine" after the whale's rough greeting.