An enormous humpback whale has been captured breaching the sea right next to a fishing boat, making the boat look tiny in comparison.
A fisher can be seen staring at the massive figure of the whale as it overshadows his boat in the photos and video footage taken by Douglas Croft, 60 years old, and whale watcher Kate Cummings.
The footage was captured in Monterey Bay, California, which is a popular whale-watching spot – no one, though, could have expected to come this close to one of the water’s largest mammals.
The fisherman witnessed the giant humpback leaping out of the depths, incredibly close to his boat, Baja Sueno, as he stood in shock.
Douglas Croft, who captured the pictures, said:
"It was quite exciting! Salmon season coincides with the time when humpbacks are returning to Monterey Bay to feed for the summer, and there were hundreds of boats on the bay fishing.
This whale had breached a couple of times before this, and many times they’ll just keep doing it. I went below deck to shoot from a porthole close to the water line. That’s what gives this amazing perspective of looking up at the whale.
That the breach was directly behind the fishing boat really shows the size. Since the boat is closer, it should look bigger, but the whale is enormous! If I’d been the fisherman, I’d probably need some new underwear."
According to Ms. Cummings, who took the video:
"It was fun capturing this video. The whale had already breached multiple times much further away from the fisherman.
But sometimes when whales breach multiple times, they’re also heading a specific direction when they’re underwater building momentum for the next breach.
I figured the next breach would be around the fisherman because the whale was heading that way and sure enough! Though I didn’t expect the whale and the boat to line up so perfectly."
COMMENTS