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Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Harbormaster Spots Humpback Breaching in Narragansett Bay

"It looked fine. It looked like it was having a good time," said North Kingstown Harbormaster Ed Hughes.
Harbormaster Spots Humpback Breaching in Narragansett Bay

North Kingstown —Boating season is basically over and North Kingstown Harbormaster Ed Hughes now makes his rounds on land. But today, he wished he was on a boat.

Still, Hughes was able to witness a remarkable sight: a humpback whale breaching, splashing and frolicking in Narragansett Bay for nearly an hour.

“It was an amazing thing to see,” Hughes said in a telephone interview. “Of all my years, I’ve never seen this. I’ve seen whales, but not a humpback whale in the middle of Narragansett Bay.”

The enormous creature at first seemed to be a boat in trouble. Hughes said he saw a splash but when he looked closely, it was the whale, fully breached out of the water.

His reaction?

“Oh yeah!” he said.

Hughes took some photos, which came out a bit grainy but are clearly that of a large whale breaching.


Hughes said it breached at least 25 times before it started slapping its tail for another ten minutes and then splashed around some more before swimming off.