ASBURY PARK, N.J. — June 18, 2014 — Don and Merryl Richards were fishing off the coast of Deal on Monday when they were visited by a large sea creature of the deep.
"We heard this spout sound and we turn around and there was a whale," said Merryl Richards, 61, of Livingston. "We just stopped fishing and enjoyed the show."
Richards said the whale breached three of four times, each time with hundreds of menhaden, an oily bait fish, in its mouth. She estimates the whale was bigger than the 33-foot boat they were in.
"We've traveled to Alaska, Australia and Boston and have seen them, and this was as good a show as any," Richards said.
In the last week there has been quite a show off the coast as whales in the middle of their annual migration have dazzled many by breaching the surface and landing with thunderous splashes.
"To think you can pay for tickets to Sea World to see whales, but they're right here off the coast," said Mike Brown, 41, of Manasquan. Brown and his family saw a whale from their boat a mile off Mantoloking Beach on June 7.
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