A humpback whale had an unexpected encounter with the bow of a small fishing boat on Sunday after it breached the ocean’s surface off the coast of the US state of Massachusetts.
The incident reportedly happened at about 10 a.m. on Sunday morning as a number of fishing boats congregated offshore near where whales had been spotted feeding. However, the boaters reportedly weren’t trying to interfere with the whales’ activities, as whale-watchers sometimes do.
Then, suddenly, one whale breached the surface, raising about one-quarter of its body above the water before landing on the bow of a fishing boat. The incident was captured on film and in photographs, and the bow of the 19-foot-long boat can be seen briefly dipping underwater as the massive cetacean slides off it.
According to a statement by the Town of Plymouth, there were "no injuries and no major damage that affected the seaworthiness of the vessel." However, they decided to call it a day after that, and soon put in at the nearby boat ramp.
Regina Asmutis-Silvia of North American Whale and Dolphin Conservation told CBS that the whale’s actions weren't intentional.
"They're not going to pay attention to what's going on around them. So they're not looking around for kayakers or paddleboarders or even boaters. They're just kind of focusing on food," she said.
A week earlier, a paddleboarder off the Plymouth coast had just such an encounter after a humpback whale breached while hunting about 35 feet away.
A middle-sized whale species, a full-sized humpback whale can be 55 feet long and weigh 66,000 pounds. Despite their massive size and high intelligence, humpbacks use baleen to filter small fish and shrimp out of the water.