Boaters and whale watchers off the coast of Massachusetts were shocked over the weekend when a humpback whale jumped and landed on the bow of a boat almost twenty feet long.
The images obtained by the agency AP show the humpback whale emerging from the water off the coast of White Horse Beach en Plymouth on Sunday July 24.
The vessel’s operator reported no injuries or damage affecting the vessel’s seaworthiness, according to officials in Plymouth, Cape Cod Bay.
Several boats were around the whale on Sunday when it made the jump.. Video footage of her shows her throwing her body out of the water and her head hitting the front of a boat, flipping the rear of the boat out of the water as she slid into the ocean.
Humpback whales they can grow up to 19 meters long and weigh up to 53 tons.
They are popular with whale watchers due to their acrobatic displays, including spectacular jumps in which they launch their school bus-sized bodies completely out of the water and strike the surface with their pectoral fins or tails.
Plymouth Harbor Master Chad Hunter said collisions like the Plymouth one are rare and can be dangerous to boaters and whales alike. It recommends that boaters stay at least 300 feet from humpback whales to minimize such encounters.
“The ship was in the right place at the wrong time. This might have been much worse for everyone involved,” Hunter told NBC. “Children like to lean over the side of the boat to watch the fish, so that it is very fortunate that no one was injured here. An incident like this is quite rare but very dangerous for boaters.”
(With information from AP)
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