Humpback Whale Seen 'Mugging' Boat in Strait of Juan de Fuca

A curious whale can be seen “mugging” a boat in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington, on July 25.The term mugging is applied to a whale that swims up close to a boat, leaving a captain unable to move the vessel until the whale has left.Kathryn Pizzo, a board member at Pacific Marine Research, was watching a pod of orca whales with her crew when a 50-foot humpback whale approached their boat. The 40-foot powered boat was sitting idle when the whale came directly below it.Pizzo told Storyful that the whale circled and stayed with the boat for 35 minutes and left the team “in awe and with amazing video and memories. We wear the whale snot on our boat with pride!”The owner asked to be anonymous. Credit: Anonymous via Storyful