Whale watching tours are quite popular when whales are migrating. Considering the humpback whale is one of the largest animals in the world, it’s quite exciting to catch a glimpse of one. Humpback whales are generally anywhere from 40-60 feet long and can weigh up to 44 tons. That’s quite massive!

Even if you’re on a whale watching tour, there’s no guarantee that you’ll see the huge whales. Whales migrate, and you have to catch them at the right time. On a good day, though, it can be amazing.

Off the shore of South Africa, several SCUBA divers were out on a boat when they had an incredible experience, but it wasn’t what they were expecting. It was the time of year when sardines migrate, and this migration attracts dolphins, sharks and birds, who want to eat the tiny fish.

Craig Capehart was on a small “rubber duck” boat along with the boat captain, Clive, the divemaster, Carlos, and the deckhand, Levi. Meanwhile, Marius Nel was piloting a lightweight aircraft overhead to let the men in the ship know when and where he saw any dolphins or sharks. 

There was a lot of waiting and not a lot of dolphin or shark sightings, but the humpback whales kept the men in the boat entertained. In fact, they saw something they had never seen before. They saw a humpback whale jump completely out of the water!

Thankfully, Capehart caught the whale sightings on video. He filmed a mother whale with her baby, and he also filmed a full-grown 40-ton whale slapping his fins on the water, and finally, jumping completely out of the water! You can see all of these amazing sights in the video below including a slow motion version of the whale jumping out of the water.

Capehart points out that even though this video was filmed in July, it was not a warm summer day. July in South Africa is the middle of winter, and it was very cold out on their little boat in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

We’re definitely glad these four men braved the cold to film these amazing whale sightings. Capehart writes, “It seems that never before has a recording been made of an adult humpback whale leaping entirely out of the water!  A very rare event, indeed. Dolphins and even Great White Sharks have been seen flying out of the water, but this is a first for an adult humpback whale!” 

Have you ever seen a humpback whale in person?