On Sunday, KINY shared an image showing kayakers in Hoonah experiencing a “close encounter of the whale kind!”
Last week we shared footage showing five humpback whales breaching almost simultaneously near Hoonah, Alaska. It was a surreal and unexpected scene enjoyed by a family during a picnic.
On Sunday, KINY shared the accompanying image showing kayakers in Hoonah experiencing an extremely “close encounter of the whale kind!”
The Facebook description reads, in part: “According to Hoonah Fire Chief Paul Comolli, the shock wave from the whale’s breach rocked three kayaks and flipped one completely over!”
Comolli captured the image at Point Frederick.
The KINY post was widely shared and some were critical of the kayakers for approaching too closely and placing themselves and the whale in danger.
Humpback whales are known for their spectacular breaches and should always be given a wide berth.
Video footage captured Saturday in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez shows a breaching humpback whale landing directly on top of a boat, damaging the vessel and injuring passengers.
Video footage captured Saturday in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez shows a breaching humpback whale landing on top of a small boat, damaging the vessel and injuring passengers.
The harrowing incident occurred in Topolobampo Bay in northwestern Sinaloa. Several vessels were crowded around the whale and their proximity to the leviathan appears to have created a dangerous situation.
Mexico News Daily reported that four passengers – two men and two women – were transported to a hospital in Los Mochis. At least one of the men, a former government employee in the municipality of Ahome, suffered serious injuries.
As viewers can see, the large whale leaps almost clear of the water before landing on the back half of the yacht, collapsing part of its roof and its railings.
The source of the video is unclear but a Twitter user named Karem, who is from Sinaloa, shared the accompanying video showing the collision, preceded by another video that shows two vessels dangerously close a breaching whale.
Omar Mendoza Silva, coordinator of Civic Protection in Ahome, told Mexico News Daily that the whale might have felt harassed by the boaters.
Gerardo Vargas, mayor of Ahome, cautioned: “Please do not get too close to the whales. We can enjoy their beauty, but at a distance, prudently.”
Humpback whales are known for their spectacular breaching behavior. They can weigh up to 50 tons. It was not clear if the whale that landed on the boat was seriously injured.
Angler gets video of a feeding whale breaching right next to her boat, sending she and her friends into a frenzy in a stunning encounter.
When a whale was spotted in the distance, Kimberly Glenz took out her phone and hoped to get a couple of good shots. Little did she know she would capture video of the whale breaching right next to the boat, sending she and her group of fishing friends into a frenzy.
Five of them were fishing in the mouth of the Columbia River off Illwaco, Wash., on Sunday when the stunning encounter occurred. (Warning for language.)
“I got my phone out to take pictures while we were getting ready to turn around, and the whale came up right underneath of us,” Glenz explained. “His mouth came up about a foot in front of my face. Then we saw his tale, and then his fin on each side of the boat.”
Glenz told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors she was “pretty much caught off guard,” but still managed to keep the whale within the frame. She added that they “got little splashes, but we didn’t get drenched like I expected.”
You could tell by the video there was bait in the water by the birds flying about. And when the whale starts back down into the water after getting a mouthful of prey, you can see the little fish in the air, trying to escape, as seen in the red circle at the bottom right of the photo below.
“I have personally never even seen a whale, and neither have any of my friends,” Glenz told For The Win Outdoors. “It was so intense. We talked about it the entire day. My family didn’t believe me until I showed them the video. We all just stood there trying to catch our breathe, and the usual [comments like] ‘Oh my God, you guys’ and ‘That really just happened.’ We were out there for my best friend’s birthday and she had one hell of a gift.”
As for the fishing?
“We were fishing the riptide but weren’t getting any bites,” Glenz said. “The day was actually pretty uneventful, until Moby Dick tried to kiss me.”
