A fantastic video shows a humpback whale breaching just a few feet away from an inflatable boat filled with whale watchers. The people on board scream and laugh and “ooh” and “ahh” as the whale launches into the air and then slams back into the water with a large splash (which then drenches the group with water).
Whales Nation recently shared the video on its Instagram page, crediting the spectacular footage to Lori Anne and Hannah Pittore. Anne also shared the video on her profile, saying she took it over the holidays while whale watching in Hawaii.
In a comment on Whales Nation’s post, Pittore wrote: “A moment that definitely took my breath away!! I’ll never forget it.”
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One person commented that even though she wasn’t there, the video still left her feeling emotional. “Omg, I never got the chance to see the jump, and even without it, I felt full emotion,” she wrote. “Must be incredible to have this close.”
Watch as a humpback whale shocks a group of people in an inflatable boat here:
Here’s Anne’s repost of her video, which shows the whale breaching from multiple angles: