Two people were thrown into the ocean when a humpback whale landed on their fishing boat off the coast of New Hampshire on Tuesday morning. The entire event was caught on video.
Gregg Paquette, from Groveland, was on the boat with Ryland Kenney from Dover, New Hampshire. Gregg said, “We didn’t see the whale for a few minutes, and then suddenly, it popped up and landed on the back of the boat.” Ryland added, “I saw the boat tipping and thought, ‘The only way to avoid this is to jump away.'”
Wyatt Yager, 19, from Maine, and his 16-year-old brother Colin were fishing about a mile off the coast, looking for fish. Colin saw the whale and started recording, catching Wyatt in the foreground. Colin said, “I was lucky to be facing the right way when the whale came up. I saw it heading for the boat and thought, ‘It’s going to hit us.'”
Gregg said, “When I turned, the whale’s head was already on the boat’s engine. The boat started tipping, and the back end went into the water.” Ryland added, “Everything felt like it was in slow motion, like a movie.”
Colin’s video shows the whale breaching, sending fish flying. The whale then flopped onto the back of the fishing boat, throwing one man into the water while the other jumped. The Yager brothers quickly helped pull them out of the water, and luckily, no one was seriously hurt.
Gregg said, “We are truly grateful to them. They dropped everything and zoomed over to rescue us.” Ryland added, “It’s a miracle I’m alive. I was just trying to survive.”
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed they received a mayday call after the whale capsized the 23-foot boat. Other boaters rescued the men and brought them to Great Bay Marina. Sara Morris from the University of New Hampshire Shoals Marine Laboratory said the whale was probably feeding when it hit the boat. She advised boaters to keep their distance when whales are spotted to avoid such accidents.