This amazing video below was captured on his phone by Colin Yager (16), who was fishing for striped bass at around 8 a.m. near Rye Harbor, New Hampshire, with his brother Wyatt (19). The teenagers were in a group of about 10 fishing boats.
Not far from the Yager’s boat were anglers Greg Paquette and Ryland Kenney. As you’ll learn from the CBS Boston YouTube video, an adult humpback whale leaped from the water with its mouth open, a common lunging behavior that is effective for feeding on menhaden (often called pogies), and smashed into Paquette and Kenney’s boat. FYI: Striped bass also feast on pogies, which is why the 10 boats were fishing this area.
Paquette and Kenney are lucky to have escaped injury — or worse — from this encounter. An adult humpback whale measures 50 to 60 feet in length and weighs 50,000 to 80,000 pounds. The one in this video dwarfs the angler’s 23-foot boat. And kudos to Colin and Wyatt Yager for acting quickly to pull Paquette and Kenney from the water.
As I’ve written many times on this website: Be careful out there!
