WATCH: Breaching Humpback Whale Capsizes Boat Off New Hampshire Coastline
A breaching whale landed on a fishing boat off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Tuesday morning, sending two boaters aboard flying into the water, according to footage of the wild incident that quickly went viral on social media.
The humpback whale—judging from its distinctive dorsal fin shape—can be seen bursting from the water with its mouth open, crashing onto the boat’s stern as fish rain down around its head. The nose of the vessel shoots up and it rolls onto its port side, taking on water.
Teenagers Wyatt and Colin Yager were just feet away in their own boat when the collision occurred, they told local Boston station WCVB-TV on Tuesday afternoon. It was Colin, 16, who had whipped out his phone and begun to record after spotting the whale, capturing the crash—and 19-year-old Wyatt’s wide-eyed reaction.