Whale Breach Death off Sydney

[BruceK]

Early Saturday morning off Botany Bay Sydney, it appears a whale breached very close to an outboard powered offshore fishing boat, throwing the 2 men aboard into the water. The boat careered away unmanned, creating its own danger(kill switch not employed?). Despite prompt rescue attempts,one of the 2 men could not be resuscitated.
This time of year the east coast of Australia is a "whale highway". The incident turns risk into reality,first time to my knowledge. Only a day before a whale was rescued from a wayward drifting net, a too frequent occurrence. The attached TV News report from TCN9 adds some detail. The whale footage included is presumably generic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRHfZN82Isw

[Max1]

Sad.....

[BruceK]

Here`s a happy ending whale story also from the east coast of Australia. Shame that "shark nets" are still used off beaches but it turned out well.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-...oast/102922250

[BruceK]

Another juvenile caught up in shark nets off the Queensland coast. Fairly sure the nets cause more harm than good, smarter sharks can swim under or around them.
This disentanglement was done from a larger boat. Usually from a larger inflatable, sometimes someone even gets in the water. Special cutters designed to not cause harm seem to be used. This one involved a lot of net!
A successful release must be a joy for the rescuers. Often Mum or a pod is standing by, hopefully they realize the humans are helping.
Here`s the news report. Nice to see the whale swim away free from the net.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-...oosa/102927596

[Andy G]

Yes, there are a lot of whales around. We just spent a week driving about 1,000kl back down from Balina to Sydney, stopping off at all those small villages that dot the coastline. On each headland we spoted large numbers heading back down to Antartica.

Amazing creatures. Just to think, in my parents lifetime we almost hunted them to extintion in this part of the world.

[SIBERNUT]

Plenty alive & well at Walmart.

[BruceK]

Unlucky and lucky! A whale surfaced and broached on top of a windsurfer off Sydney. All caught on camera. The surfer`s leg rope became caught under the whale which began to dive, fortunately the line broke releasing him from a presumed depth of 20-30 feet.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/wa...a-0e587bd546ac

[soin2la]

Originally Posted by BruceK

Unlucky and lucky! A whale surfaced and broached on top of a windsurfer off Sydney. All caught on camera. The surfer`s leg rope became caught under the whale which began to dive, fortunately the line broke releasing him from a presumed depth of 20-30 feet.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/wa...a-0e587bd546ac

I'm surprised they didn't spin it as: "Whale attacks surfer."
That would be the headline in most places.

[SteveK]

Originally Posted by soin2la

I'm surprised they didn't spin it as: "Whale attacks surfer."
That would be the headline in most places.

What? Sounded like the windsurfer roped the whale but the line broke.

[BruceK]

Wonder if the wind surfer gets prosecuted for approaching too close to a whale.
I hear we are building a forest of anchored floating bird shredders/electricity turbines off shore, along the north/south whale migration route. Perhaps the tail flicks will generate some electricity if the collisions don`t get them first.