Two men were thrown into the water when the whale caused their boat to capsize, but they were uninjured and promptly rescued, the Coast Guard said.
Ryland Kenney, an avid fisher from Dover, N.H., on Monday evening, showed his mom photos of a whale he’d seen off the coast in recent weeks. She asked if he wasn’t worried about going fishing in those same waters the next day.
Kenney, 44, told her not to worry. The chances of a close encounter with a whale were about the same as getting hit by lightning, he said.
On Tuesday, lightning struck.
Kenney was out fishing about two miles off the coast with his friend Greg Paquette, who is 54 and from Groveland, Mass., in a 23-foot boat. New Hampshire’s 13-mile coastline is a fertile feeding ground for fish — and whales — because freshwater flowing from the Piscataqua River meets the salty Atlantic, bringing an abundance of species.
For the same reason, there were lots of boats out on Tuesday, and the friends were conscious about maintaining a safe distance from other boats to avoid collisions.
Then they spotted Kenney’s old friend, the same juvenile humpback whale that he’d shown his mother, in the water. They tried to keep the boat at least 50 feet away from the animal.
“But obviously, we weren’t far enough,” Kenney said over Zoom.
The humpback was swimming around below the pair in the boat. Then it abruptly splashed above the surface, apparently in pursuit of prey.
Paquette had his back turned to the engine at the rear and didn’t realize what was happening. But Kenney saw it all. He “yelled something like ‘whoa,’ like he had seen the whale come out of the water,” Paquette said, recounting the incident for a reporter.
Kenney had in fact seen the whale come out of the water. The whale’s “mouth was wide open. And as he came down, his mouth closed and basically you could hear a crunch. And he had crunched the engine,” he said.
By the time Paquette turned his head, the whale was already on its way crashing down to the engine. Seconds later ocean water quickly flooded the boat’s stern.
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Moments later, as the boat began to roll to its side, Kenney said he jumped straight out to get away from the tipping boat. “I kind of cleared the boat and got away from it,” he said.
Paquette, meanwhile, was thrown into the water. He quickly got out of the way before the boat could land on him.
Paquette had his life jacket on. Kenney did not. Kenney briefly had difficulty breathing because of the water’s 55-degree temperature.
Luckily for the two, brothers Wyatt and Colin Yager were on a nearby boat and saw the whole thing.
Colin, 16, recorded the episode on his phone, telling a local ABC affiliate that he was “just lucky enough to be facing in that direction.”
Wyatt Yager, 19, who was steering the boat, said he saw the whale come out of the water. He quickly guided his boat toward Kenney and Paquette and helped pull them out.
The men were not hurt, and the whale also appeared uninjured, the Coast Guard said.
Kenney and Paquette say they won’t give up fishing — but they are motivated to be more cautious.
“Everything is fluid out there,” Paquette said. “Everything is moving … you have the fish moving, the whales are moving, the water is moving, the boats are moving.”
Kenney said he’d be staying closer to the coast for the next few weeks and ensuring that there are other boats nearby in case of another emergency. He also said he would remember to wear his life jacket.
“Can lightning strike again? I don’t want to take that chance. So for me, I’m going to be a little more cautious,” Kenney said.
