Bystanders made a terrifying distress call after seeing a humpback whale breach and sink a boat off the coast of New Hampshire.
The incident occurred near Odiorne Point State Park on Tuesday, when two fishermen, Ryland Kenney and Greg Paquette, were thrown overboard.
Nearby boats had watched the scene unfold and one man made a distress call to the US Coast Guard.
In the call, the stranger is heard saying: ‘Mayday, mayday, ship capsized, two passengers safe on another ship, ship sinking.
“There were two people on board, they are currently on another boat, they are still here with us, everyone is safe.”
The large mammal was caught on camera as it swam through the waters off the coast of Portsmouth.
The incident occurred near Odiorne Point State Park on Tuesday, when two fishermen, Ryland Kenney and Greg Paquette, both seen here, were thrown overboard.
The man continued: “The whale hit the boat, flipped it over, threw them into the water and pulled them out of the water to be pulled out of the water. The boat is now upside down and sinking.”
The Coast Guard communications officer can be heard repeating the information and asking for help as the call ends.
Kenney said WMUR-TV‘It sank, disappeared for a few minutes, and suddenly appeared on our transom.’
Kenney and Paquette said they had seen the whale earlier in the day and had been trying to keep their distance.
Paquette added: “When I turned around, the whale’s head was already landing on the engine. I looked down and the boat was tilting up and the transom was sinking into the water.”
Kenney said: “Everything seemed to be in slow motion. It was really strange.”
“Everyone was like, ‘Oh, it was eight seconds. How did you move that fast?'” But it was almost in slow motion, like a movie.
Brothers Colin and Wyatt Yager were fishing when the whale appeared and came to the rescue of the fishermen.
In the terrifying footage, the animal can be seen slamming its nose into the back of the small boat, knocking the two people on board into the water.
The boat was submerged in water after the incident, which first appeared on social media on Tuesday afternoon.
The brothers managed to capture on video the moment when the whale crashed into the boat and it capsized.
Colin told the outlet: ‘I had my fishing rod right here, phone in my hand and I saw it come up, and I was lucky enough to be looking in the right direction.’
While his brother added: “I saw him come up and I thought, ‘Oh no, he’s going to hit the boat!’ and then he started to capsize.”
According to a statement from the US Coast Guard, the whale was not injured in the encounter.
Sara Morris of the University of New Hampshire’s Shoals Marine Laboratory said the whale was likely feeding when it came into contact with the ship.
The brothers, pictured here, managed to capture on video the moment the whale crashed into the boat and it capsized.
She said: “The whales are moving underwater and coming up, potentially to a different area from where they came down, and we want to give them as much leeway as possible to avoid a situation like the one we see here.”
While orcas have been known to attack boats, humpback whales typically only approach ships when they are curious, rather than angry or feeling threatened.
Humpback whales are generally considered gentle, although people who choose to swim with them run the potential risk of being hit by the animal’s caudal (tail) fin if they end up swimming into a blind spot.