Humpback Rams Whale Watching Boat Off Hawaii, Tourists Survive [VIDEO]

A humpback rams whale watching boat off the coast of Maui, Hawaii, last week, and a female tourist on the boat was able to capture the heart-stopping encounter on video. As the humpback rams whale watching boat, the video appeared to show that the whale only failed to notice that there was a small boat nearby, thus barrelling right through the tourists' boat.

The video of the gray humpback, rams whale watching boat with her pectoral fin was taken while the 25-foot inflatable boat was coasting the the peninsula of Baja California, Mexico.

The footage was taken by a passenger Jennifer Nap earlier this month. Before the humpback rams whale watching boat, the tourists aboard the boat gasped, spotting the female humpback with her calf.

Unbeknownst to them, they will soon be getting a much closer view of as the female cetacean turned towards their boat and slapped her huge pectoral fin while heading their way.

On Jan. 8, Nap posted the video of the humpback ramming whale watching boat on YouTube.

"While on a whale watching tour in Maui, our tour guides stopped the boat and shut down the engines so we could hear the whale 'songs' on their hydrophone. A few minutes later, a female and her calf approached us, and had no problems taking on the 25' boat we were in," said the video's description.

Meanwhile, Nap was interviewed by GrindTV and she told the station that the whale moved the boat about five feet when after hitting it.

She explained that as she took the humpback rams whale watching boat video, she was on an Ultimate Whale Watch trip with her husband, Ryan. They both first spotted the female humpback from afar, reports the Daily Mail.

At the time, the crew reportedly switched off the boat's engines, something experts believe could be one of the reasons the mom whale didn't notice the small boat.
"As soon as she was done pushing us aside she dove under, then popped right back up on the other side with her calf," said Nap.
"It's gonna ram us," one passenger shouted as the humpback was about to ram the whale watching boat. Meanwhile, others passengers could scream in shock before the incident.
"This is so awesome!" a man can be heard saying on the video as the whale swam under the boat.

Nap also told GrindTV that although the humpback rams whale watching boat and the knock wasn't so hard, it had been enough to "toss our boat a good five feet when she hit."

"As soon as she was done pushing us aside she dove under, then popped right back up on the other side with her calf," she added.

While the behavior of approaching boats is common for cetaceans, it is reportedly unusual if the whale rammed the boat while adopting an aggressive attitude, according to The Cubic Lane.

Fortunately, after the humpback rams whale watching boat, Nap hadn't been badly hurt. However, this might reportedly be indicative of the problems when it comes toh whale watching trips. The trips were made in order to raise awareness on the threats whales face in general. The "whale watching" experience has reportedly become a full-blown business already.
Lee James, CEO of the Ultimate Whale Watch CEO, said that the whale could have gotten distracted by her calf and a nearby male rather than having tryied to warn the tourists, according to Newsmax.

"It is most likely that this mom was distracted with her calf and keeping another eye on a escort that was being a little irritating for the female, as escorts can be," James told GrindTV.

"We think she simply wasn't paying attention and bumped the boat, then carried on pec slapping like nothing happened," he added.

The humpback rams whale watching boat and she simply wasn't trying to warn passengers to keep away from her calf, especially since a whale is more likely to slap its tail fin, rather than the pectoral fin and make noises to show its anger.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, many seem to have found the encounter impressive.