Many of us have a habit of constantly toying with our phones and that sometimes leads to missing some very rare sights going on around us.

A photo making the rounds on social media shows the top half of a humpback whale reaching above the water's surface.

It's a beautiful image taken on a beautiful, sunny day, but the background is getting just as much attention as the whale. In it, a man is sitting on a sailboat and his eyes are fixated on his smartphone.

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(MORE: Rare Species Caught on Camera)

What makes it so interesting and baffling is that the man was only feet away from the spot where the whale surfaced.

The shot was captured by photographer Eric Smith near Redondo Beach, California, and area well known for whale watching.

Smith said he snapped about five pictures of whales with the same boat in the vicinity and in each image the man's eyes are glued to his phone.

The photographer acknowledged that he too was guilty of looking at his phone quite a bit, but pointed out that oftentimes beautiful moments are missed due to our obsession with the beloved devices.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Whales