Wednesday 21 July 2010

Whale attacks boat

From the BBC:

A couple on a whale-watching trip off Cape Town, South Africa, say they had a lucky escape when a 10m (33ft) specimen leapt on to their yacht.

The southern right whale, a species known for poor eyesight, snapped the mast before sliding back into the water, said Paloma Werner. She and her partner had just seconds to take cover, she said. A nearby tourist caught the moment on camera...

The southern right whale navigates by sound, leading Ms Werner to suspect it was an accident...


... as opposed to a deliberate attack?

6 comments:

Pavlov's Cat said...

... as opposed to a deliberate attack?

I've been saying it for ages, cows are one thing, take down an OAP or a farmer one at a time (and it takes mob to do it)

But if the larger animals cotton on we're f*cked

I mean your average whale could probably take out the front 3 rows of the local Hippodrome.

Now I'm not saying it's likely, but worth thinking about when you're giving all your money to Sea Shepherds

Mark Wadsworth said...

PC: "it takes a mob to do it"

Just wait for my July cow attack round up (German language edition)!

bayard said...

Isn't it about time that Cameron or Obama apologised to the whales for all the whaling that went on in the C19th? This may just be a hint in that direction.

Lisa said...

Whales are highly intelligent creatures. I doubt this was any "accident". More like a display of power....

Woman on a Raft said...

Maybe it just fancied her, was showing off with all that tail-flipping and such like, thought "I know what will really impress her, I'll jump the boat". Then he simply misjudged the distance and slid back in to the water, feeling a right pillock.

We must found a charity to provide optically corrected goggles for our cetacean brothers.

James Higham said...

As Abby Sunderland found out - it ony takes one moment at sea ...