Boat collides with humpback whale in SF Bay

Whales have been breaching and feeding in the San Francisco Bay over the past couple of months and residents and tourists have been doing their best to grab photos of the enormous animals. But one boater recently got a little too close to the action.

A boater appears to collide with a humpback as seen in a photo taken near the Golden Gate Bridge on Wednesday, June 28.

The moment was captured by a man on his honeymoon in the Bay Area.

As KTVU reported, photographer Ryan Clapper was walking across the bridge and said he saw whales breaching near the bridge when he took the shot showing the boat.

A boat collides with a humpback whale in the SF Bay in this photo taken on Wednesday, June 28, 2017. GALLERY: Click or swipe through the slideshow to see more of this season's unprecedented whale activity. A boat collides with a humpback whale in the SF Bay in this photo taken on Wednesday, June 28, 2017. GALLERY: Click or swipe through the slideshow to see more of this season's unprecedented whale activity. Photo: Ryan Clapper Photo: Ryan Clapper Image 1 of / 48 Caption Close Boat collides with humpback whale in SF Bay 1 / 48 Back to Gallery

The photo shows the powerboat has a noticeable wake at its stern and a bow wave indicating its forward motion as it contacted the whale. The photo also shows the outboard engine turned hard over, as the skipper turned the wheel to starboard, in what may have been an attempt to avoid the giant marine mammal.

"My wife and I were just hiking on the Golden Gate and we were halfway there and we noticed there were several whales in the water," said Clapper, a photographer from Satellite Beach, Fl. "There was at least three or four, so I pulled out the camera and shot what I could.

"Shortly after, a boater was cruising by and noticed the breath of the whales, you know how it shoots up real high. And I imagine he only saw one of the whales, but there were several. He was just trying to get closer to get a picture with his iPhone or camera. And he hit a whale in the process...then he went right over that whale," Clapper said.

Clapper said that he and his wife saw some San Francisco police officers nearby and reported the incident, but not before expressing his anger over the situation. "[I said] a couple of curse words of choice," Clapper said. "You know, WTF, what the hell."

SFGATE is working to identify the skipper of the Grady-White boat for comment. KTVU reports that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary has officials monitoring the situation, but reported they are not looking to go after the boater. They just want to make sure boaters and kite boarders in the area are aware that even spooking a whale can cause it to surface elsewhere, potentially in front of a power boat.

Any actions that impact marine mammals are illegal. Watchers should keep at least a football field away. Review complete regulations here.

Clapper said that he's happy the photo has been circulating and getting attention in the news to raise awareness of the presence of the whales and the potential danger in trying to interact with them. "Don't be a dumb– and watch for whales," he said.

He said he was shocked to see the types of whales that are in the Bay. Where he is from, he said that he normally only sees North Atlantic right whales, "but nothing like these humpbacks, these humpbacks are enormous."

"They were feeding. They were like actually eating," he said. "It was like an episode off of National Geographic."