Whale Leaps in NYC Waters and Nearly Capsizes a Boat

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DEFSQUADFITNESS NJ

For the first time in more than a century, whales are back in New York Harbor. That doesn't mean there have been one or two whales nearby and now people are blowing it out of proportion. There are lots of whales. In fact, there are enough whales coming within view of the Statue of Liberty that there are whale watching tours launching from New York City right now. 

For proof, look no further than these New Jersey boaters traversing the Verrazano-Narrows -- between Staten Island and Brooklyn -- on their 19-foot fishing boat. In the very sweary video above, a humpback whale surfaces and jumps within spitting distance of the boat, rocking it as though it was little more than a toy in a bathtub.

"This definitely was one of the craziest experiences in my life," Pauly "Walnuts," who was on the boat,  wrote on Facebook. "That humpback was chasing [Atlantic menhaden aka bunker] all the way up to the side jumped out of the water and tapped the hull of my boat knocking bunker into the boat. Crazy, I know it sounds like a fish story ... but these #NewJersey waters are serious."

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DEFSQUADFITNESS NJ

Oh, and that other boat at the end of the video? People on that boat filmed the encounter as well. Get a load of the reverse angle above.

h/t Huffington Post

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Dustin Nelson is a News Writer with Thrillist. He holds a Guinness World Record but has never met the fingernail lady. Follow him @dlukenelson.