Whale Capsizes Fishing Boat Off New Hampshire Coast

Two fishermen had quite the unexpected adventure on Tuesday when a whale breached right under their boat, causing it to capsize off the New Hampshire coast. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the incident took place near Odiorne Point State Park in Rye.

The two men, Ryland Kenney and his fishing partner, were thrown overboard as their 23-foot fishing boat flipped over. They had spotted the whale earlier and were trying to keep a safe distance from it.

«He went under, he disappeared for a few minutes, and then the next thing we know, he just popped right up on our transom,» Kenney said. The Coast Guard reported that they received a mayday call about the capsized boat and quickly sprang into action, alerting nearby rescue teams.

Fortunately, a couple of young brothers, Wyatt and Colin Yager, who were boating nearby, sprang into action to help. «I saw it come up, and I was just like, ‘Oh, it’s going to hit the boat,’” Wyatt Yager said. He even managed to capture the whole moment on his phone.

The Coast Guard confirmed that a good Samaritan rescued both fishermen from the water, and thankfully, no injuries were reported. The whale, appearing unharmed, was also a topic of concern for rescuers.

The boat and its occupants were safely brought back, and it was later revealed that the whale probably didn’t know the boat was there. Sara Morris from the University of New Hampshire Shoals Marine Laboratory explained, «If you look at the video really carefully, you can see that the whale has its mouth open. It looks like it’s lunge feeding and actually trying to catch fish.»