Whale knocks hole in Australia Boat
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) – Two Australian fishermen had to be rescued after a whale knocked a 16-inch hole in their boat, the country’s coastal patrol said Sunday.
Paris Vella and Glen Connell had just started fishing off the coast of Merimbula, about 280 miles south of Sydney, when they were hit by the giant mammal on Saturday.
“We don’t know if it’s just old and cranky – because it was a deliberate bashing and not an accident,” said Baden Cameron, a commander for the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol.
The impact threw both men overboard and nearly capsized their 15-foot boat.
A nearby charter vessel towed the sinking boat to shore while the men “bailed for their lives”, Cameron said.
The whale was believed to be either a sperm or a southern right whale. Both species migrate along Australia’s eastern coast around this time of the year.
