WE’RE so addicted to our smartphones, we often fail to appreciate the moment.

But this man was even more oblivious than most, missing a once-in-a-lifetime close encounter with a humpback whale because he was glued to the screen.

Photographer Eric Smith captured the magnificent sight of the whale and her calf surfacing right beside the oblivious texter at Redondo Beach, California.

The beautiful creatures were only a metre from the private sailboat where the man was sat on the deck.

But he failed to even look up.

Smith posted the image to Instagram with the caption: “A sign of the times. Hey dude! Stop texting. There’s an enormous humpback whale two feet from your boat!”

He said he had about five photos of whales breaching with the boat in the background, but the man was staring at his phone in every single one. Smith was about 15 metres away when he saw the boat move into the spot where he had just seen the whales spouting.

Smith told US broadcaster ABC News: “He could have been texting his mom in the hospital for all I know, but I thought it sucked that he missed such a wonderful moment happening just two feet in front of him.

“We’re all guilty being buried in our phones, even me. You think life is better on your phone, but we’re missing what’s happening around us.”