Leaping whale crushes Mexican tourist boat, killing Canadian holidaymaker

The port director in the northwest Mexico beach resort of Cabo San Lucas says a Canadian woman has died from injuries suffered when a grey whale leaped out of the water and crashed onto a tourist boat.

Port director Vicente Martinez confirmed the 45-year-old woman’s death Wednesday.

Firefighter commander Juan Carvajal Figueroa says the woman was in a boat with other tourists returning to port around noon when the whale jumped from the water and landed on the boat.

Mexican navy personnel responded to the scene and moved the woman to shore. She was taken to a clinic, where she died during treatment.

Authorities did not release her identity.

The incident is reminiscent of an incident caught on film in 2010, in which a humpback whale leaped out of the water off Cape Town, South Africa, and landed on a yacht. No one was hurt in that case.