WATCH: Boaters in Massachusetts capture close encounter with whale on camera

MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA, Massachusetts (WCVB) – A group of friends in Massachusetts witnessed an unforgettable sight — and one of them was able to capture it on camera.

The four friends, who all reside on the North Shore, were out on a boat off the coast of Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea.

Even though they were just a quarter-mile offshore, they, surprisingly, spotted a humpback whale in just about 30 feet of water.

They followed the whale for about half an hour, hoping for a big payoff. That payoff definitely came, as they saw the humpback breach out of the water.

“It’s like unbridled joy,” Hamilton resident Lindsay Pollard said. “I felt like a kid, like back when we were all young and it’s, like, just something so exciting you can’t control yourself. It was amazing.”

“As we were a little bit closer, that’s when its tail came out and we noticed that it was really a humpback,” Beverly resident John Cushing said. “Then, to have it breach in front of us, that was shocking.”

“Oh my God! It was really exciting,” said Wenham resident Tyson Goodridge, who was able to get a video of the breach. “It was just right place, right time, and really lucky and grateful to see nature at its best.”

The group was only about 50 feet away from the humpback when it breached.

The friends say it is a whale tale they will never forget.