Humpback whale collides with boat, causing it to capsize off New Hampshire coast

Lightning struck on Tuesday.

Kenney was fishing about two miles from shore with his friend Greg Paquette, 54, of Groveland, Mass., in a 23-foot boat. New Hampshire’s 13 miles of coastline are fertile ground for fish — and whales — because freshwater flowing from the Piscataqua River meets the salty Atlantic Ocean, bringing with it a wealth of species.

For the same reason, there were many boats out and about on Tuesday and the friends were aware that they had to keep a sufficient distance from other boats to avoid collisions.

Then they saw Kenney’s old friend, the same young humpback whale he had shown his mother, in the water. They tried to keep the boat at least 50 feet away from the animal.

“But apparently we didn’t get far enough,” Kenney said via Zoom.

The humpback whale swam around beneath the pair in the boat, then suddenly splashed above the surface, apparently hunting for prey.

Paquette had his back to the motorcycle in the back and didn’t realize what was happening. But Kenney saw it all. He “yelled something like ‘whoa,’ like he saw the whale come out of the water,” said Paquette, who was sitting next to Kenney and recounted the incident to a reporter.

Kenney had actually seen the whale come out of the water. “The whale’s mouth was wide open. And as he came down, his mouth closed and you could actually hear a cracking sound. And he had the engine cracking,” he said.

By the time Paquette turned his head, the whale was already underway and crashed into the engine. Seconds later, ocean water was rushing over the stern of the boat.

Moments later, as the boat began to roll to its side, Kenney said he immediately jumped out to get away from the tipping boat. “I got the boat free a little bit and got away from it,” he said.

Paquette was meanwhile thrown into the water. He quickly moved aside before the boat could land on him.

Paquette had his life jacket on. Kenney didn’t. Kenney had some trouble breathing because of the 55 degree water temperature.

Luckily for the two, brothers Wyatt and Colin Yager were on a nearby boat and witnessed the entire event.

Colin, 16, recorded the episode on his phone and told a local ABC station he was “just lucky to be looking in that direction.”

Wyatt Yager, 19, who was driving the boat, said he saw the whale come out of the water. He quickly steered his boat toward Kenney and Paquette and helped pull them out.

The men were not injured and the whale also appeared unharmed, the Coast Guard said. said.

Kenney and Paquette say they won’t stop fishing, but they are motivated to be more careful.

“Everything is fluid out there,” Paquette said. “Everything is moving…you have the fish moving, the whales moving, the water moving, the boats moving.”

Kenney said he would stay closer to shore in the coming weeks and make sure other boats were nearby in case another emergency occurred. He also said he would remember to wear his life jacket.

“Can lightning strike again? I don’t want to take that chance. So I’m going to be a little more cautious,” Kenney said.