Fireislandandbeyond.com photo contributor Artie Raslich was out on his boat “Ship Of Fools”  today hoping to run into one of the Humpback Whales that have been seen feeding close to shore over the past few weeks.

As the staff photographer for Gotham Whale, Artie knows to keep a safe distance from any marine mammal to avoid any undue stress or potential injury.

However, even with all the proper precautions, Humpbacks are unpredictable and will do what they want, when they want.

In Artie’s own words, this is what happened today:

“Your on a whale, following a safe distance 200+ feet behind him.  All around you is Bunker.  He knows that the bunker are by you as well.  He turns and comes back at you, you cant go forward or back up, it is what it is, Its gonna be close so you shut the boat off and wait! Bunker freaking out in every direction around the boat, a shower of water, fish flying everywhere, a loud blow and this is what comes up four feet from the boat.  WOW how lucky am I today!
PLEASE Be responsible around the Whales!”

Some basic Whale watching guidelines can be seen here.

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