Humpback Whale Breaches Water, Lands On Bow Of Boat Partially Submerging It [Watch]

Plymouth County, Massachusetts -- A humpback whale emerged out of the water off a Massachusetts coast Sunday and toppled the front end of a boat in dramatic footage.

The incident took place off the Plymouth coast in the south of Boston at around 10 a.m. A video posted on Facebook showed the whale emerging in the middle of a cluster of fishing boats and landing on the front end of one of them, sending it dipping into the water before it manages to bounce back to the surface. Take a look below:

The sighting was reported off the coast of White Horse Beach in Cape Cod Bay, Plymouth Harbormaster Chad Hunter told NBC 10 Boston. He went on to add that the boat had minor damages and no one aboard the vessel was hurt. The boat returned to its ramp on its own after the incident.

"The boat was in the right place at the wrong time. This could have been much worse for all involved," Hunter told the outlet. "Children like to lean over the side of the boat to watch the fish so it is very lucky that nobody got hurt here. An incident like this is pretty rare but very dangerous to boaters."

One of the witnesses called the incident "insane." "All of a sudden, full breach, ten feet out of the water, slams on top of his guy's boat, like his bow goes down, basically, into the water, engine out, full thing pops off, whale rolls over the side of it, totally fine, but his boat was messed up," the eyewitness told NBC News.

A Plymouth Harbormaster patrol boat was wading through the area following reports of increased whale sightings, according to ABC News.

Hunter said the recent abundance of schooling fish is a magnet to whales in the area. Laura Howes, director of Marine Education and Conservation at Boston Harbor City Cruises, told ABC News that the whale was "lunge feeding," a method in which a whale pounces in a quick motion on a school of fish near the surface.

She said humpbacks often end up making rare appearances in crowded boating areas while chasing schooling fish. "The most important thing a boater can do is keep a distance. You want to stay at least 100 feet away," Howes told ABC News.