Wednesday 21 July 2010

Whale Lands on Yacht - Metro & Independent Online


photo credit Paloma Werner


Just off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa a sailing couple got more than they bargained for when getting a closer look at a southern right whale.

Witnesses claim that the couple's boat, Intrepid, had been harassing the young whale by speeding straight at it and ignoring the protective law that states boats must remain at least 300m away from whales and take evasive action to avoid them.

The whale, seemingly upset, leaped from the water and crashed down onto the couple's boat, destroying the mast and leaving hunks of blubber aboard. No one - neither humans nor whale - was seriously injured.

Meredith Thornton, scientist and manager of the Cape Town Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria, says of the whale: "It's definitely very badly bruised, but probably did not break anything. It's definitely feeling it today."

Lesson: Don't piss off a 40-ton whale.

Full articles here (Metro & Independent Online)

1 comment:

  1. That's the most awesome thing I've read all week. Yes, pissing off a 40-ton whale has its consequences. What idiots.

    ReplyDelete