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A father and son were fishing for striped bass and tuna off the Jersey Shore near Belmar on Oct. 12 when they hooked a prize memory: A massive humpback whale breached the sea inches from them.
The son, Zach Piller, 23, of the Philadelphia area, captured the moment on video. The water boiled with activity, with dozens of small fish jumping from the sea, before the humpback’s head emerged next to the duo’s small boat.
“Uh-oh,” Piller is heard saying just before the animal breached the surface and raised its head above the boat’s midships.
“Got that on video!” Piller said among excited swearing.
The whale’s head landed with a splash, and soon it was deep in the sea.