Two fishermen were rescued from the waters of New Jersey after their boat was capsized by a whale on Thursday afternoon. A retired firefighter, who responded to the mayday call, caught the whole thing on camera.
Fisherman Bill Sobeck and his friend were aboard a boat named Kaptain Obvious while fishing for fluke off the coast of Deal, approximately 50 yards out from a beach in the Long Branch area.
Kaptain Obvious took a dive when a humpback whale nudged the boat from behind. He remembered flying into the air and landing in the water on his back before retired Trenton firefighter Gary Szabo pulled him out of the water. A passenger from his boat caught part of the rescue effort on camera, which included state authorities and a helicopter. The men rescued were not injured, and the boat was towed in for repairs to its T-frame top and engine following the incident, according to a report from NBC.
Szabo said whales were feeding on baitfish in the area when the encounter occurred, in a report for Whyy.org. He said his diver ladder made it easy to get the men from the water on Facebook after sharing footage of the incident.
Sightings of marine mammals like the humpback whale are common to the area. Szabo also said he was approximately half a mile away from the incident when he received the call. Troopers from the New Jersey State Marine Services Bureau are also conducting the vessel accident investigation, according to Patch.com.
That evening, New Jersey State Police posted to Facebook detailing the incident, and joked that "charges against the whale are pending its apprehension." The fisherman, Gary Szabo, and authorities could not be reached for further comment.
Humpback whales are about the size of a city bus and weigh approximately 40 tons, ranging from 48 to almost 63 feet in size, according to National Geographic. The omnivores are known for their ability to sing and regularly leap out of the water. Scientists are currently under the impression that humpbacks sing to communicate with others and to attract potential mates, but are not sure why the whales leap out of the water. Current theories about why the humpback whale surfaces include assumptions about skincare. Scientists believe another reason that this particular species surfaces to the water is purely a form of fun.
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