‘It was insane!' | Whale lands on boat off New England coast



The event off the shore of Plymouth, Massachusetts, did not result in any reported injuries, according to the harbormaster.

What a crazy story, I tell you. Off the shore of Plymouth, Massachusetts, on Sunday, a humpback whale was captured on video breaching the water and coming to rest on top of a boat.

The close encounter happened at White Horse Beach about 10 a.m., Plymouth Harbormaster Chad Hunter told NBC10 Boston. Surprisingly, the 19-foot vessel's bow only incurred minor damage and it was still seaworthy. Fortunately, the boat operator reported that there were no casualties. The boat was able to return to the boat ramp on its own power.

"The boat was at the ideal location at the incorrect moment. For everyone concerned, this might have been far worse "said Hunter. "It is quite fortunate that nobody was wounded in this incident since kids like to lean over the edge of the boat to watch the fish. Although very uncommon, incidents like these are exceedingly perilous for boaters.

The instant before impact was captured in an amazing photograph.

Locals told NBC10 Boston that they had never seen anything like this before, despite some of them having fished in the region for decades.

Ryder Parkhurst recalled the incident: "Complete breech, ten feet out of the water, bangs on top of his guy's boat, like his bow drops down, literally, into the sea, motor out, full thing pops off, whale rolls over the side of it, fully OK, but his boat was screwed up." "It was absurd; all that happened was that the man was in the wrong location at the wrong time. Suddenly appears and bangs against the boat's bow."

Parkhurst continued, "I just watched the boat go totally flying, it was unbelievable. "It was crazy. I found it incomprehensible that it was still floating."

In fact, harbormaster staff had been keeping an eye on the area since five in the morning in an effort to guarantee everyone's safety after a boat was struck by a whale on Friday.

Due to the quantity of bait fish, the harbormaster said that there were many boats in the region on Sunday for recreational fishing. He also added that this is what draws whales to the area to feed.

Longtime boater Chris Grant said, "They've been out there for the last three days consistently so there are a lot of whales, but they're also drawing a lot of boats, which clearly poses an issue after today." Although they are attractive, you need to keep your distance because they are still animals, right?

On Sunday night, many gathered there in anticipation of seeing something.

Daniel Morse, a 9-year-old boy, declared, "I adore whales. "Music, video games, and whales are the three things I enjoy most."

The event serves as a caution from the harbormaster to boats to always maintain a distance of at least 100 yards from whales.

Environmental police were notified, and they will look into the situation to see if the Marine Mammal Protection Act was broken. The harbormaster stated that at the time of the event, no such infractions had been found.
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