Great White Shark Feeding Frenzy Devours Dead Minke Whale (VIDEO)

Tourists hoping for a glimpse of some whales over the weekend were instead treated to a more brutal scene: an epic feeding frenzy involving several great white sharks and the carcass of a minke whale.

Passengers sailing through California's Channel Islands happened upon the scene Sunday morning, according to GrindTV. The boat was part of Island Packers Cruises, a company that transports passengers in and around Channel Islands National Park and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. This particular Island Packers boat was in the the Santa Barbara Channel when it crossed paths with the dead whale.

"Three Great Whites and about a dozen Blue Sharks feasted on a dead Minke Whale carcass floating in the SB Channel,"said a post on the Island Packers Facebook page Sunday. "Indian Summer conditions made for epic pictures!"

A relatively small species of baleen whale, adult minkes average about 26 feet long for males and 27 feet long for females, according to the American Cetacean Society. Fully grown, the whales can weigh up to 10 tons.

While it's unclear how the whale died, the decomposing carcass proved irresistible to the area's sharks, which ultimately flocked to the body.