A whale this morning caused a boat to sink off the east coast of Australia, killing one man and injuring another.
The two men were fishing from a speedboat that capsized around 6am (9pm Friday in Lisbon) in the waters of La Perouse, 14 kilometers southeast of Sydney, police said.
The first man was pulled from the water unconscious and died at the scene. The second was treated by emergency services and is stable at St. George’s Hospital.
“Early indications are that they could have been in the water for 45 minutes,” a maritime police officer told Australian public television ABC.
A whale approached or possibly collided with the small 16-foot-long boat, Siobhan Munro said, describing the case as a “tragic accident.”
“There are many whales in the sea right now and there are many examples of whales approaching ships,” he added.
Police and Counterterrorism Minister Yasmin Catley called the episode a “clear warning” of the dangers of boating.
The acting director of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority highlighted the importance of safe boating practices, which “can make the difference between life and death on the water.”
“Life jackets and distress transmitters significantly increase the chances of survival in the event of boating incidents,” explained Shontelle Chamtaprieo, who recalled the “terrible moment” last year, which resulted in 48 deaths.
This accident comes less than two weeks after a four-metre whale was hit in the head by a ship’s propeller off the western coast of Australia.
In July, Portugal’s Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) banned maritime tourist vessels from actively approaching pods of orcas.
According to the ICNF, since 2020, interactions between orcas and vessels, mostly sailboats, have been recorded in the area of the Strait of Gibraltar, the Portuguese coast and Galicia (Spain), something that has already caused the sinking of at least two boats.
“It is known that the initial interactions, carried out by a small group of juvenile killer whales, are currently carried out by a larger group of animals,” explained the ICNF.
The institute warns that, given the size of the adult animals (a maximum of eight to nine meters in length and three to five tons in weight), the more intense interaction of orcas with semi-rigid boats or other types of smaller boats, Like those used for whale watching, they can have more serious consequences.
The institute determines that in cases where orcas try to approach, the boats must move away and that whenever the animals approach the boats without the crew realizing it, the boat must be stopped, leaving the engine running.
Source: TSF
