Whale Jumps Onto Boat in Seaside!

Those catching some sun on the beach today (Mon., June 8th) say they couldn't believe their own eyes when a whale capsized a boat!

(This is while the fishermen were still in the boat, photo courtesy of Karen Miz)

This boat washed ashore after two fishermen went flying into the air and landed in the ocean because a WHALE breached the side of their boat!

Friends of mine who were sunbathing on Seaside Park Beach (near the F Street entrance) saw this happen today as they were watching dolphins frolicking in the waves. They said the two guys on the boat were minding their own business and fishing as usual when they spotted the same enormous fluke as the whale apparently did!

The whale won, and those guys are so lucky not to have gotten hurt after going flying through the air. The Marine Mammal Stranding Center was called, but the whale is thought to be just fine and probably has a belly full of fluke.

(Photo courtesy of Linda Burns)

Thankfully the guys are okay...but their boat? Not so much. They had to get it to shore immediately since it was taking on water, and beach it in the sand.

I spoke with Linelle from Toms River. She and her friends Karen, Jimmy, Maryann and Linda all saw it happen -- they just couldn't believe their eyes! Jimmy and Maryann Orozco sent me this video right after the incident. It's blurry, but you can hear the play-by-play of their thoughts & reactions immediately after the breach:

One of the fishermen was overheard saying that he actually stepped onto the whale to get back into the boat!

I later found out that the owner of the boat (aptly dubbed "Nothing But Net") is Robert Riley of Surf City, an NCAA referee who now has a whale of a tale, indeed.