I know this isn’t celebrity gossip, but I think this might become the most famous whale in the world. Paloma Werner and Ralph Mothes, who operate the Cape Town Sailing Academy, were enjoying a day of sailing through Table Bay when a Southern right whale breached the surface and landed on their boat. Luckily no one was hurt in the incident, but the boat will have to go in for some repairs. This species of whale is common to the area and was not attacking the boat – it just has been vision.
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Absolutely incredible images of this event!
Not sure if this was an accident, but whales have been known to occasionally become aggressive towards boats… in fact, we had a 12 meter boat sunk by whales off the coast of Mexico in October of 2009. Whether it was an accidental collision or an act of aggression we will never know. An emergency beacon (EPIRB) and liferaft were instrumental in the safe rescue of the crew. I would never recommend venturing offshore without these two items! And a hearty thank you to all the Coast Guard members who come to the aid of sailors in distress!
A boat was recently sunk by whales in Australia, and back a couple of years ago another off Hawaii (when it accidentally got between a mother and her calf). Whale incidents (whether boats colliding with whales or the inverse) seem to be on the increase, so we all need to maintain an increased lookout for our friends aquatic!
By the way, there is a great firsthand account of our incident written by the skipper on our blog… very compelling read with great lessons learned.
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