A nearby recreational boater had reported seeing a pod of whales periodically breaching the water both prior to and following the incident, said Reiman.
The condition of the whale is unknown, and it is also not known what type of whale it was.
This is not the first time in New Jersey that a whale has breached and capsized a boat: As recently as August 2025, a 20-foot whale breached in Barnegat Bay, hitting a boat and sending a woman overboard. She survived, but the whale, which witnesses say appeared to be in distress before breaching, died.
And in 2020, a humpback whale surfaced in the ocean off Seaside Park and hit a 25-foot fishing boat, sending the two people on the boat into the water. The two fishermen were able to swim to shore. The whale also died in that incident as well, and ended up later washing ashore on a beach.