Watch the incredible moment.
Video credit: Daily Mail
A humpback whale surprised a fisherman by leaping out of the sea at a distance of just a few feet from his ship in Californian waters.
The giant animal dwarfed the boat as it emerged from the water, depicting true power and prowess of nature.
Although Monterey Bay in California is famous as a whale-watching place, the fisherman could hardly believe how close the whale was to his boat, Baja Sueno.
Thankfully, whale watchers Kate Cummings and Douglas Croft were there to capture the stunning moment.
In the footage captured by the group of whale-watchers, the fisherman can be seen watching in amazement as the incredible display unfolds before him.
‘It was quite exciting!’ Croft, 60, said.
‘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 makes really shows the size.’
‘Since the boat is closer, it should look bigger, but the whale is huge! If I’d been the fisherman, I’d probably need some new underwear.’
Humpback whales can reach up to a whopping length of 50 feet and can weigh up to 30 metric tons, that’s about five times as a fully-grown African elephant.
This group of whales belongs to the blue whale family – the family comprising of the largest beings on earth.
Kate Cummings, who captured the video footage, said: ‘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.’
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