Humpback whale breaches super-close to boat off New Jersey coast
A New Jersey man videotaped a humpback whale surging out of the water right alongside his small fishing boat last week, and the footage has gone viral.
The whale showed up in the waters just a mile or so off the northern coast of New Jersey. Paul Ziolkowski, of Union Beach, caught the moment on camera then posted it to Facebook, where he goes by the name "Pauly Walnuts."
But kids, you may want to keep the sound on mute since the video features a few colorful expletives as the huge whale comes within just feet of the fishing boat.
Ziolkowski wrote on Facebook, "WARNING: CRAZY FOOTAGE Of A HUMPBACK WHALE BREACHING our boat right next to the Verrazano bridge on the Jersey side."
Another slightly larger boat was nearby and caught the moments after the breach occurred, which he posted, too.
He's has been posting about the whale encounter ever since, with lines like: "We were #INSHOCK." And indeed, he and a couple of other men on the boat with him looked thrilled but stunned.
In another follow-up video on his Facebook page, Ziolkowski jokingly calls himself "The Whale Whisperer."