A huge baleen whale capsized a 23-foot-long fishing boat this morning with two men onboard, and the video is going viral. The incident took place off the coast of New Hampshire, and reports suggest the two men were not injured.
Local news outlet Portsmouth Herald provides details on what happened. The fishermen on the capsized vessel were Greg Paquette and Ryland Kenney. The young man recording the video, 16-year-old Colin Yager was aboard the boat that reached the Paquette and Kenney first.
Yager and his older brother Wyatt, 19, were fishing in the early-morning hours of Tuesday morning when they spotted a whale. Portsmouth Herald reports that about an hour later, that whale slammed into Paquette and Kenney’s fishing boat. The impact threw them overboard and sank the vessel.
Thankfully, the Yagers were there and willing to help.
In the viral video taken from the Yagers’ viewpoint, you can see the whale breech (leap from the water) and land on the back of a boat. Wyatt Yager then starts turning his boat around before Colin Yager’s video cuts off.
The Portsmouth Herald reports that the whales’ victims were in the water for less than two minutes before the Yager brothers pulled them to safety. The Yagers say numerous other boats had come around the help; they just happened to get there first.
Watch it go down here:
There is a pissed off whale patrolling the waters of Portsmouth NH today. Head on swivel if you’re out there pic.twitter.com/xQPIHs8ZjN
— Ryan Whitney (@ryanwhitney6) July 23, 2024
Kudos to the Yager brothers for a swift rescue.