Australia: a whale hits boat and injures passengers

PHOTO COURTESY/JEAN-PIERRE SYLVESTRE

AFP

Monday, August 7, 2017 05:30

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Monday, August 7, 2017 05:30

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Sydney | A man lost consciousness and the other three suffered fractures to the face or ribs in a collision between a whale and a sport fishing boat off the coast of Australia, a-t-we learned on Monday from the captain of the boat.

The vessel nine meters long was returning to port in the archipelago of the Whitsundays, located off the coast of the State of Queensland, with eight passengers on board, when a humpback whale hit him from underneath, lifting it in the air.

“In a fraction of a second we all hit the ground, the boat took off, and nobody was on his feet,” said captain Oliver Galea AFP after the accident on Saturday. “Nobody understood what was happening.” A South African 71-year-old lost consciousness, and was treated by the crew.

Four other occupants of the boat were taken to the hospital: the captain to a head injury which required eight stitches, and three tourists for fractures to the nose, to the ribs and face.

“We see whales all the time, but it has never had any knowledge of an event of this kind,” said Mr. Galea, adding that some of the passengers had seen in the water what they believe to be a humpback whale after the accident.

Every year, the humpback whales migrate north from the Antarctic to the warmer climate of the australian coastline to mate and calve. They can reach up to 16 meters long.

This test has not achieved “the proper state of mind” of the passengers, who gathered on Sunday to eat their catch of the day before, according to the captain.

“The most important thing is that we are all back home, and now we have some war wounds to show,” he added.