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.

By MARK SCHIELDROP, Narragansett-South Kingstown Patch Staff

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.