A sperm whale cracked the hull of a yacht sailing in the remote South Pacific, forcing four sailors into a day-and-night fight for survival on the high seas.
Crew members on the 52-foot Tai Tam told AFP on Thursday of their weekend encounter with a pod of sperm whales 250 nautical miles north of tiny Norfolk Island.
"There was sort of a loud thud. The whole boat was pushed sideways," said Australian Jemma Cooper, who was thrown from the steering wheel by the force of the blow.
Not knowing at first what had happened, she noticed a brown discoloration in the water and a sperm whale.
"We looked out to our port side, and there were six to eight, a pod, of whales there. So then it became clear that that's what it was," she told AFP.
At 1 p.m. New Zealand time on Saturday — about 30 minutes after the whale collision — they activated an emergency beacon.
"We declared a full mayday," said New Zealand crew member Terry Hetherington, adding they spent the next few hours bailing out as much water as they could.
Late at night, they abandoned the boat and transferred to a life raft in calm seas and under a full moon.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, they cut the tether to the yacht, fearing it might drag them down. Soon after, it slipped beneath the waves.
The New Zealand military released dramatic drone video of the yacht plunging below the water's surface and the crew ultimately being rescued.
No comments:
Post a Comment