In an unexpected turn of events, two fishermen found themselves in a dangerous situation when a breaching whale crashed onto their boat off the New Hampshire shore. The incident, which occurred near Odiorne Point State Park in Rye, resulted in the capsizing of their 23-foot center console boat.
Ryland Kenney, one of the fishermen, described the sudden encounter to WMUR-TV:
“He went under, he disappeared for a few minutes, and then the next thing we know, he just popped right up on our transom.”
The U.S. Coast Guard received a mayday call about the incident and quickly responded. They reported that both men were thrown overboard when the whale breached, landing on their boat.
Fortunately, nearby boaters came to their rescue.
“We are grateful to the good Samaritans for taking such quick action to rescue these two individuals. Bravo Zulu!” the Coast Guard posted on X.
Greg Paquette, the other fisherman involved, shared his experience with Good Morning America:
“All of this is happening, from the whale hitting the boat, to us being in the water, is four seconds. But it seemed like it was a lot longer.”
The event was captured on video by teenage brothers Wyatt and Colin Yager, who were in a nearby boat. They not only recorded the whale breaching but also helped rescue Paquette and Kenney.
Wyatt Yager described their immediate reaction:
“It was a second of, ‘Oh man, what just happened?’ It was a complete shock. And then, immediately, just drop everything and go get those guys out of the water.”
Sara Morris from the University of New Hampshire Shoals Marine Laboratory suggested that the whale might not have been aware of the boat’s presence.
“If you look at the video really carefully, you can see that the whale has its mouth open,” she explained. “It looks like it’s lunge feeding and actually trying to catch fish.”
The Coast Guard reported that the whale appeared to be uninjured after the incident. They also noted that the fishermen’s boat has been salvaged.