Massive sea creature launches from water off CA . See the ‘highlight’ for boaters

A sea creature was spotted leaping from the water off the California coast, and boaters are calling the moment a “highlight.”

An adult female humpback whale was spotted “launching herself out of the water” before giving boaters a show with four “huge chin slaps, and some pectoral fin slapping” near the boat, according to a July 7 post from the Monterey Bay Whale Watch.

Humpbacks usually display this behavior as a means of communicating with other whales as the sound of them slapping their bodies against the water can be “heard for miles,” according to The Marine Mammal Center.

Onlookers cut the boat’s engine and hung out with some feeding whales as they started to approach the boat, officials said.

While traveling along the boat, the whales showed off with some “exciting chin slap breaches,” the group said.

Later in the day, passengers got the chance to see some “interesting just barely sub-surface feeding,” the group said.

Users rushed to the comments to share their thoughts on the photos with one person saying, “What a marvelous experience!”

Monterey is about a 120-mile drive south from San Francisco.

This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Massive sea creature launches from water off CA . See the ‘highlight’ for boaters."