A strange situation in South Africa has been reported where a Southern Right Whale has breached the water and landed on a small sailing yacht, effectively attacking the boat. As can be seen in the before and after images below, on Sunday in Table Bay near Cape Town South Africa, the yacht’s mast and rigging was completely flattened by the whale which landed on the yacht.
The whale responsible is around 11 metres in length – a little longer than the 10m boat – and would weigh about 40 tonnes. After landing on the yacht the whale thrashed around for a few seconds leaving blubber and skin before sinking back into the blue ocean.
Ralph Mothes, 59, and Paloma Werner, 50 were enjoying the calm seas off the South African coast when the animal flipped into the air and smashed into their mast. Miss Werner said: “It really was quite incredible but very scary. The whale was about the same size as the boat. There were bits of skin and blubber left behind, and the mast was wrecked. It brought down the rigging too. “
“Thank goodness the hull was made of steel and not fibreglass or we could have been ruined…We’d spotted it about 100 metres away and thought that was the end of it. Then suddenly it was right up beside us…I assumed it would go underneath the boat but instead it sprang out of the sea. We were very lucky to get through it, as the sheer weight of the thing was huge. “
whale versus yacht
Moments before the large marine mammal surfaced it had pounded its tail on the surface of the water in a ‘lob-tailing’ ritual to communicate with other whales. Whales sightings are frequent in the Atlantic Ocean off the Western Cape coast at this time of year although attacks on yachts are very rare indeed. The whales move in near to the shoreline for breeding and many tourists flock to the region’s seaside resorts every year to spot them during the South African winter from June to November.
The damage after a southern right whale landed on a sailing yacht breacking its mast
The experienced sailing couple used their engine to get back to shore and sfaety in Table Bay. More: -telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7901247/Forty-ton-whale-lands-on-yacht-during-Cape-Town-sailing-trip.html
