Largest creature in the world is seen off Massachusetts coast for the first time in 20 years as experts 'shed tears'
A group of whale watchers were ecstatic to discover an enormous blue whale off the Massachusetts coast this week.
Cape Ann Whale Watch posted a video of the group's encounter with the marine mammal on July 8 while it was swimming just off the cape's shore.
The blue whale, the largest animal in the world, is an uncommon sight for whale watcher around Massachusetts, and it was the first sighting in that area in more than 20 years, according to Cape Ann Whale Watch.
Cape Ann Whale Watch went on two whale-watching trips that day and spotted the large creature during both outings.
'Our naturalist shed tears and could barely speak, interns too had tears and were in total awe,' read the video description.
Passengers on a Cape Ann Whale Watch boat were ecstatic to see a blue whale swimming off the coast of Massachusetts on July 8
The blue whale had been around the area for at least two days, according to the video description.
The marine mammal was first spotted in Nova Scotia before it made its way to Rye, New Hampshire, before it was eventually seen off Cape Ann and Newburyport.
Probably the most striking moment in the video was when the blue whale exhaled a misty breath from its blowhole.
'When blue whales exhale, they are so large and exhale with such a powerful force that their blow can be 30 feet high,' the video description reads.
The whale eventually swam incredibly close to the boat in front of cheering passengers.
The whale-watching experts concluded that the marine mammal was almost as long as their 115-foot boat.
In addition to this shocking sighting, passengers and whale watch employees saw harbor porpoises, humpback whales, fin whales, large basking sharks and dolphins.
Cape Ann Whale Watch posted Facebook photos of the blue whale on July 9, and one of its employees admitted that the mammal's 30-foot high blow was the tallest they had ever seen.
The blue whale was first spotted in Nova Scotia before it made its way to Rye, New Hampshire, and eventually seen off Cape Ann and Newburyport.
Blue whales are in all oceans besides the Arctic, and there are five known subspecies of the marine mammal.
They have been listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and they're protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which prohibits everyone from harassing, hunting, capturing, collecting and killing them in U.S. waters.
Blue whales usually grow up to 90 feet, but some of the sea creatures have grown to be about 110 feet - roughly the size of the whale watching boat's estimation of the mammal they witnessed - in the past.
The animal can weigh anywhere between 100,000 and more than 330,000 pounds.
Facebook users who watched the video enjoyed the whale sighting, and it even gave one person 'chills.'
Cape Ann Whale Watch did two whale-watching trips that day and spotted the large creature during both outings
'Seeing a blue whale has been on my bucket list since I was in elementary school, and went to the Museum of Natural History and Washington DC,' a Facebook user wrote.
'That is as close as I’ve come so far... I wish I’d been on that boat! So exciting.'
One commenter who claimed to have been on the tour during the video thought the entire experience was 'amazing.'
'We did the 8:30 am tour. The dolphins were so fun to watch, and the blue whale was the icing on my Birthday cake today,' the commenter wrote.
At least three other Facebook users plan to go on whale-watching trips in that area over the next couple of weeks, and they hope to catch a glimpse of the blue whale while doing so.
