So much for the skeptics who thought a photo of a whale crashing into a South African couple's ship was photoshopped: a video of the incident was captured by a nearby boater, proving the stranger-than-fiction occurrence to be true.

It happened Sunday to Ralph Mothes and Paloma Werner, a South African couple sailing near Robben Island in Cape Town. As you'll see in the video, an endangered Southern Right Whale, estimated at 30-feet-long and weighing 40-tons, crashed into their yacht.

Free Willy, this wasn’t.

A South African couple sailing near Robben Island in Cape Town over the weekend didn't get the quiet day they were looking for, when an endangered Southern Right Whale -- estimated at 30-feet-long and weighing 40-tons -- crashed into their yacht!

The couple, Ralph Mothes, and Paloma Werner, spoke with the Today Show's Matt Lauer Thursday about their harrowing experience, which was documented by a neighboring boater, who snapped a shot of surreal situation