After a mesmerizing period in which Delaney Trowbridge sat at the vessel’s bow, staring into the eyes of a humpback whale from just feet away, an obvious phenomenon occurred.
The whale, needing to breathe, rose slightly and exhaled powerfully toward Trowbridge and others on the boat, providing them with an evening shower and the memory of a lifetime.
Trowbridge, who had been holding out her phone to document the sighting, later joked via Instagram: “To any researchers out there, I’ve got a lovely DNA sample for you all over my phone and hands.”
The remarkably intimate encounter occurred late Tuesday aboard Newport Coastal Adventure’s inflatable passenger boat. The top video clip shows Capt. Ryan Lawler’s perspective, with Trowbridge at the bow.
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Featured below is an Instagram clip captured by Trowbridge, providing her “straight whale spout to iPhone” point of view.
The humpback whale had been swimming alongside boats for several days off southern Orange County, exhibiting a behavior described as “mugging.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLqONmKBzUq/
On Tuesday, Lawler and his small charter waited until the other crews left for their respective ports before motoring into the area.
“Then it was just us and the whale,” he told For The Win Outdoors. “And sure enough after following alongside the whale for another 15 minutes it decided to come over. So we totally stopped the boat and until the sun set this whale kept circling our boat.”
For Trowbridge, a photographer and naturalist for Newport Coastal Adventure, the experience was deeply moving.
“I think whale muggings are so unique because you’re completely at the mercy of this giant animal, but there’s absolutely no fear. It’s just pure joy,” she said. “I had never seen a whale’s eye more clearly in my life, and it was amazing just how fixated on us it was.”
“It would swim past us, and underwater you’d see it turn around to come back. Encounters like this genuinely leave you breathless – the sight of such a powerful animal just inches away from you is just incredible.”
Humpback whales can measure to about 50 feet and weigh nearly 40 tons. They’re famous for their dramatic breaches and their apparent curiosity people watching them from boats.
Lawler said that at one point he placed his hand above the whale and splashed the water. The whale responded by “blowing a giant bubble blast on the surface.”