A teenager came face to face with a humpback whale off the coast of Co Kerry as he headed into the sea with his father.
When Terry and Tomás Deane, from Camp, headed out into the water around 15 miles northwest of Brandon for a bit of father-son bonding, they had no idea what a spectacular sight they were about to encounter.
They had hoped they might see some whales and 14-year-old Tomás started filming underwater with his GoPro camera.
However, it was his father Terry who captured the most striking footage.
Terry told RTE: “We had gone out on the longest day of the year with the intention of finding whales.
“We were observing three animals feeding for about an hour, but then they came over to the boat to check us out.”
Both father and son had their cameras ready – Tomás with his GoPro underwater and Terry was sat back on the boat taking in the whole scene with his son’s smart phone.
Terry continued: “Tomás was at the end of the rib filming underwater footage with a GoPro camera. But suddenly one of the humpbacks spyhopped out of the water. There he was just towering over him. It was unreal.
“We were shaking, not with fear, but in awe.”
Take a look at the video below.
The magical moment when a 14-year-old boy came face to face with a humpback whale off the Co Kerry coast ? pic.twitter.com/g6Yr0MP3zr
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) 16 July 2019
Written by Michael Kehoe @michaelcalling