Man dies after boat overturned by whale in Australia

The victim was pulled from the water off the coast of Sydney, while the vessel’s skipper is in hospital in a stable condition

The accident came less than two weeks after a 4m humpback whale was struck in the head by a boat propeller in Western Australia

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Australia’s extensive coastline hosts 10 large and 20 smaller species of whales. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 1:15pm, 30 Sep 2023

One man died and another was in hospital on Saturday in Australia after a whale struck and flipped their boat during a fishing expedition, authorities said.

Police said one man was pulled unconscious from Botany Bay, off the coast of Sydney, and later died, while the vessel’s skipper was taken to hospital in a stable condition.

“A whale has been involved, whoever would have thought that that would have occurred, it’s terribly tragic,” said New South Wales Police Minister Yasmin Catley.

People on a second boat raised the alarm after spotting the 4.8-metre runabout vessel unoccupied and circling, police said.

The skipper had been trying to hold his boating companion “as close as he could” in an effort to save him, Water Police Acting Superintendent Siobhan Munro said.

The boat “was likely to have struck or been impacted by a whale breaching, causing the boat to tilt, ejecting both men”, police said in a statement. It did not identify the whale’s species.

State Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib said it was “an absolute freak accident”.