91Ƶ

Skip to content

VIDEO: 3 humpbacks jump in unison, in a family birthday surprise

91ƵIt was such an uplifting thing to see, just incredible91Ƶ

A New Hampshire man celebrating his birthday on the ocean with his three daughters captured video of something so rare that even marine scientists are jealous 91Ƶ three humpback whales leaping from the water in near perfect unison.

91ƵIt was such an uplifting thing to see. Just incredible,91Ƶ Robert Addie said.

The Portsmouth man, now a home remodeler, spent decades on the water as a commercial fisherman in Massachusetts and Alaska. In that time, he said he91Ƶs seen thousands of whales.

But he never witnessed anything like Monday91Ƶs whale encounter on a tuna fishing trip off Cape Cod. The excursion with his daughters was for his 59th birthday, as well as to celebrate his safe return from a humanitarian aid trip to Ukraine where he came under heavy artillery fire.

During the fishing trip, he was trying to film some humpback whales about 300 yards (275 meters) from their boat and was having no luck, until he got what he called a 91Ƶwhale ballet.91Ƶ

91ƵA triple breach is unheard of and a synchronized triple breach is even rarer,91Ƶ he said. 91ƵIt91Ƶs once in a lifetime. Just very fortunate. I feel God shined down on me to allow me to to capture that.91Ƶ

To add to the thrill, seconds after the three whales breached and twisted through the air, a juvenile whale did the same thing. Whale experts later told Addie that the aerial maneuvers may have been an attempt to remove parasites or aid digestion.

He has another theory: 91ƵI have a feeling that maybe they were teaching or training91Ƶ the younger whale.

Those same experts also know how rare the spectacle was.

91ƵEven some of the whale experts that have reached out to me, they91Ƶre all jealous because they91Ƶve never seen it,91Ƶ Addie said.

READ ALSO:

READ ALSO:





(or

91Ƶ

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }