Whale Attacks Snorkler

[Gombessa]

The news clip got it right: "Never get between a mother calf and her baby." :no

 

[Diver0001]

This falls under the catagory of "When you see a grizzly cub and his momma, don't touch either one". The victim, whose name I have asterisked (if that's a real word) is a LDS owner in the Salt Lake Valley.

The story is quoted from the local ABC affiliate, Channel 4 TV.


//snip bad journalism //

Calling this an attack is just wrong.

This article should be called "WHALE DEFENDS BABY FROM IGNORANT SNORKELERS".

let me just re-write the article here so it says what I believe really happened.

here we go

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A whale of a tale out of Draper as R***, his wife G*** and 16 of their best friends are on a whale-watching expedition gone wrong off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic.

For a week the group was snorkeling with the North Atlantic Humpback whale on each attempt trying to get closer and closer to the colossus in an attempt to pet it and it's new born young. On the last day of the trip the group is back in the water for their last chance to try touching the enormous beast. "We were observing them," said R**T***, euphemistically. "We had gotten extremely close, closer than we had been all week."

The humpback and her calf were sleeping as the snorkelers moved in, sneaking up on the unsuspecting mother and baby. Since breathing is a learned activity for young humpbacks, the calf is sleeping on top of the mother. Periodically she rises to the surface so she and her baby can get air. T*** and the group, unable to control their position in the water, got dangerously close, their hearts pumping as their goal of finally coming in contact with the Leviathan was finally in sight. Suddenly it surfaced right underneath them," T*** said, "I kind of put my hands out to keep if from knocking us, and the calf got spooked. It startled the mother and all hell broke loose."

Thornton said the massive mammal whipped her tail. "My wife G*** was shot about 20 feet away, the woman on the other side of her was knocked unconscious. It was like a big whirlwind of water and people where scattered all over the place."
T*** said he was also hit. "The mother whale, I think, flipped me with its tail and broke my femur in my leg. At first I thought it was gone because I had no feeling in the leg." T*** had survived his own recklessness and they were extremely lucky that noone was killed. The trip to the hospital would take nine and a half hours by boat. "It was a pretty gruelling ride, you can imagine nine and a half hours slamming up and down, laying on a metal deck." He did finally make it to the hospital, then home to Utah. He said once he's fully recovered, it's back in the water with the whales again. "Absolutely! I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It was one of those life-changing things!". Some people never learn.

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R..

 

[DandyDon]

We have got to move this to the whatever forum.

I still can't believe anyone would be so stupid as to approach any undomesticated animal with young - whale, bear, armadillo, whatever. I once got between a 4 ft ling cod and the nest he was protecting and felt pretty dumb about that, but one of the biggest animals in the world - in the water.

I do hope the calf is ok.

 

[NJMike]

And you know the mother told her calf, "Never talk to strange divers".

 

[RJP]

Sort of like if a guy jumped off the curb and in front of a moving car you wouldn't say "Motorist Attacks Pedestrian"

 

[Dv4fun]

I am glad no one was killed, and your recovering. What we can learn from this is you know not to approach what appears to be a sleeping "Giant". Also that mother now knows who you are and if you go back again its going to think it did not do a good enough job warning you , so next time you go be sure to have your affairs in order.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Stupidity rules with some people. I say he got what he deserved for being so careless. Next time maybe the mother will kill him and then some two bit shabby moron journalist will do a story about the killer humpback. Curiosity killed the cat. Maybe alot of idiots too.

 

[empressdiver]

I think a swimmer on the surface snorkelling has much less control of his position in the water than a scuba diver who can avoid surface wave action and swells to a much larger extent. A diver could approach in relatively calm water at a depth of 15 or 20 feet to observe from a distance comfortable for the whale.

Watching this closely is probably just not a safe snorkelling activity.

 

[nymbus]

I can't wait to see how this guy wins the Darwin award he is so clearly poised to get. Observing just can't be enough for some people I guess.

 

[gomi_otaku]

Luckily this was a whale, and not in the US. If this were in Yellowstone and it was a bear, or an Elk, the animal would have been shot for being "aggressive"
gomi_