A whale collided with a boat off the coast of La Perouse, located 14 km (nine miles) southeast of Sydney, Australia, resulting in the death of one man and injuring another. The men were on a fishing expedition when the incident occurred.
The alarm was raised when an unoccupied boat was observed circling in the waters. The collision occurred in an area where deaths caused by whales are exceptionally rare, leaving the region astonished. A state minister for New South Wales described the incident as “an absolute freak accident.”
According to a statement from the police, the likely collision with the whale caused the boat to tilt, throwing both men overboard. Water Police Acting Superintendent Siobhan Munro commented that early reports suggested that a whale may have breached near or onto the boat. This was an unprecedented incident, with no prior records of such an occurrence in the region.
Tragically, a 61-year-old man was found unconscious and pronounced dead at the scene. The 53-year-old skipper of the boat was rescued from the water and transported to a hospital, where he is reported to be in stable condition.
Australia boasts a coastline that is home to 10 large and 20 smaller species of whales. It remains unclear which specific species was involved in the collision on Saturday (30).
-BBC-
