Fisherman in 'fight or flight mode' after huge whale 'crunched engine' and capsized boat

A fisherman whose boat capsized after a huge whale "crunched the engine" has admitted he was in "fight or flight mode" following the harrowing experience.

Ryland Kenney was forced to jump in the water after a shocking video showed the whale breaching out of the water in Portsmouth Harbor Tuesday morning and overturning the boat.

The New Hampshire fisherman was rescued by teenager Colin Yager and his brother Wyatt who were fishing on another boat nearby when the whale breached.

"I was in fight or flight mode, so just trying to get off the boat as quickly as possible because I know it was going under once I heard the whale crunch the engine," Mr Kenney told Fox News. "So I just kind of jumped sideways, horizontally to get away from everything. When I hit the water… I was in kind of temperature shock because about 55 degrees, so it was really hard for me to catch my breath."

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"I couldn't locate my friend Greg," he added. "He was actually underneath the boat at the time, and it felt like hours, but it was about maybe five seconds. I finally found him, so once we reunited, I felt a little more calm."

After Colin and Wyatt captured the amazing footage, they quickly rushed to the fisherman's safety. "It was just completely insane. I was just looking in the right direction, luckily, and I saw the whole thing happen, and I had my camera out, all ready to record whatever I saw, because I just wanted to record stuff," Mr Yager said. "I saw it start to go up, so I just pressed the record button and… the rest is on video."

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that neither of the fishermen were hurt, and the whale also appeared to be unharmed by the incident. Whales are common in New Hampshire waters, especially between June and August, wildlife experts said.

Just days before the incident, Mr Kenney's family asked him about the likelihood of a similar incident happening.

He revealed: "I've actually taken pictures of the whale breaching, days before, and I had actually had a dinner with my family, and my family was asking me when I was showing them photos of the whale, 'Aren't you scared of the whale potentially knocking your… boat in the water?' And I and I kind of said, 'Oh, well, I've done a lot of research, and the probability of that happening is like lightning strikes. And of course lightning strikes the next day."