Fishermen Amazed by Whale Lunge-Feeding Off New Jersey Coast

A father and son fishing duo were amazed when a whale breached close to their boat on September 12, off the coast of Sea Isle City, New Jersey.

Mark Bevevino, who captured this video, was fishing with his son, Frank, about two miles off the coast when he saw the whale lunge-feed.

Bevevino told Storyful he and his son are relatively new to ocean fishing and had never seen a whale before. The pair were catching baitfish called menhaden, more commonly known as bunker fish, in their 22-foot, center-console boat when the whale shot up under the school.

“We had thought about a minute earlier that we may have heard a whale breach and saw some water disturbance a couple hundred yards away,” Bevevino said.

He added that they had heard a trawler boat and marine research boat had spotted a whale a couple miles north about 30 minutes prior to capturing this moment.

“We never thought it would come so close,” Bevevino said. Credit: Mark A. Bevevino via Storyful