“Jumping the shark” is a euphemism that has often been used to describe a once good television show that has suddenly gone bad. But there is nothing bad in a video captured by friends Drew Palumbo and Ben Slayback when they actually captured a video of a shark jumping out of the water.

The two friends were simply just enjoying themselves with a session of surfing in the waters near Huntington Beach, California on April 18. Suddenly, they witnessed a spectacle: a shark was able to propel itself out of the water, launched into the air before diving back with a splash.

Luckily, the two young men had recording devices with them, which they were using to capture their surf session. Drew Palumbo had his GoPro on, and he said he merely hit record when they saw the shark 100 feet away from them.

“Right off the back, kind of behind a wave, as we were paddling out, and it was pretty spectacular,” Palumbo described the incident.

He said he knew it was a great white shark, which prompted them to leave the water.

“Once it went horizontal and you could see the whole shape, I instantly looked over at my friend and said, this is not typical,” Palumbo said.

Drew posted the video on his YouTube page.

Chris Lowe, director of the shark lab at Cal State Long Beach in California said that sharks like the one seen in the video may breach (jump out of the water) in an effort to get rid of parasites.

“One reason they may jump and slam down is to try and dislodge those from the body,” Dr. Lowe said, adding, “the other possibility is that they may be doing it for fun.”

Palumbo says the experience won’t deter him from surfing in the area. “It’s just like a part of the wildlife here and you just have to be aware when you’re out there,” he pointed out.