Sunday, June 7, 2015

Not a Shark, A Whale Attack

Well, it wasn't really an attack, more of a playful accident, but it never-the-less threw a surfer 10 feet in the air and knocked him out. It happened at Bondi Beach in New Zealand.

According to witnesses: It was as big as a bus, easily 40 foot long and it just sent the surfers flying like skittles
The surfer was taken to St Vincent's Hospital and is in a satisfactory condition. "It was a near drowning," said Gordian Fulde, director of the emergency department at St Vincent's. "But he has no broken bones. He will probably go home tomorrow."

Rajapakse, the victim, said he had been surfing at the southern end of the beach for about an hour on Sunday when his friend Chris signaled for him to paddle over.
 “When I got to him I saw there was this dark, black shadow and it was just massive. The whale was moving in like slow motion. It was beautiful and it breached and we could see the barnacles and it was slowly going up and down and turning and it actually made a noise. It was amazing."
He said the last thing he remembered was saying, “Hey, how's it going?” to the whale which was less than a meter (about 3 feet) from him.
I think the lesson here is simple. When you’re in the water and something the size of a bus comes swimming by, don’t talk, swim –away and give it plenty of space (it’s their ocean after all).


Live Long and Prosper...

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