“Gimme all your money and that watch!” Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
Seeing a whale in real life is a wonderful thing. It can be a little unnerving — their size alone is enough to make you understand how fragile our little bodies really are — but they are one of nature’s most amazing creatures. A family vacationing in Maui found that out firsthand when they were “mugged” by a pair of what were likely juvenile humpback whales while they were on a whale-watching expedition.
“Mugging,” as it refers to whales, is when a whale gets so close to a boat that the pilot can’t safely drive away without possibly harming the whale.
“That term ‘mugging’ is related to the approach limits and the inability to move your vessel when the whale approaches and is within 100 yards here in Hawaii,” explained Pacific Whale Foundation’s chief scientist to KHON2 News. “They’re holding the vessel hostage, in a sense, and so they’re getting mugged.”
The Bunce family, who were vacationing in Maui from Idaho, have been on other whale watching excursions in the past, but this one took the cake.
“Am I in a dream?” Kaiden Bunce asked himself when the whales appeared. “Is this actually happening? Are these actual whales?”
The whole encounter only lasted about five minutes, but that would likely feel like a very long time when you’re face-to-face with the largest creatures on the planet. The whales, who were just curious, popped up beside the boat and stayed there, exhaling great clouds onto the boat passengers and watching the cameras.
It isn’t an experience that’s likely to happen again, but it is an experience that will keep the Bunce family coming back in hopes of a repeat.
