Out of nowhere, a whale crashes into a fishing boat and catapults the crew overboard. The men are rescued and the US Coast Guard investigates the incident.
Portsmouth Harbor – A humpback whale collided with a small fishing boat off the east coast of the USA on Tuesday (July 23). The collision catapulted the two anglers on board into the water, but the men were unharmed and were rescued. This is not the first collision between a boat and a sea giant in recent times.
Fishing boat capsizes after collision with humpback whale weighing several tons
A video taken from a boat in the ocean near Portsmouth Harbor, New Hampshire, shows the incident up close. The huge humpback whale jumps out of the water behind a fishing boat on Tuesday (July 23) and lands headfirst on the stern, causing the seven-meter-long boat to spin and eventually capsize. Humpback whales can grow up to 15 meters long and weigh 30 tons – the boat looks like a toy next to the huge animal.
The impact catapulted the two men, who were not wearing life jackets, into the sea. A nearby boat came to the men’s aid. The US Coast Guard praised the quick intervention on Platform X: “We are grateful to the good Samaritans for acting so quickly to save these two people. Bravo Zulu!” The phrase “Bravo Zulu” meansmarine and NATO said something like: “Well done.” The anglers were unharmed and, according to the US Coast Guard, the whale was also unharmed.
Accident instead of targeted attack? Experts warn against “humanization” of animal behavior
For laypeople, the incident reminds them of the mysterious orca attacks on boats – especially off Spain and Portugal. Experts doubt that the incident off the US east coast was a targeted attack. Dianna Schulte of the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation told the New York Postthat it was a humpback whale calf. The young whale was probably hunting for schools of fish and had broken through the ocean surface. “The boat was in the wrong place,” Schulte stressed. The researcher pointed out that humpback whales cannot see through schools of fish and the young whale probably did not know that the boat was even there.
The whale had been staying close to the coast for several weeks and had attracted numerous onlookers. “The boaters seen in the video should have known better not to fish in the area with a large whale, because [ein Unfall] can happen,” said the researcher to New York PostThe incident in Portsmouth Harbor had nothing to do with malicious behavior. The idea that the whale was “angry” or acted intentionally is absurd, Schulte makes clear. Recently, other researchers also warned against the “humanization of animal behavior” in an open letter with regard to the orca attacks off the coast of Europe.
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