After a boat in Sydney was said to have been hit by a whale, it subsequently capsized, resulting in the death of one man and leaving another in a stable condition in the hospital.
At approximately six o’clock on Saturday morning, the New South Wales Water Police responded to allegations that two people were in the water off Cape Banks at La Perouse. Their boat, which was seen to be circling in the waters, was confirmed to be uninhabited.
A man who was 61 years old and had been dragged from the sea was unconscious when he was found. According to the police in NSW, all efforts to resuscitate him were fruitless, and he was subsequently pronounced dead.
A second guy, aged 53, was helped by bystanders and moved to the Foreshore Road Boat Ramp, where he was treated by paramedics before being sent to the hospital in a stable condition.
The sailboat that the guys were in, a 4.8-meter runabout, is believed to have collided with or been impacted by a whale that was breaching the water, which caused the boat to tilt and throw both men overboard.
According to the police, the boat ramp on Foreshore Road in Botany will stay closed while further investigations were conducted.
Acting Superintendent Siobhan Munro stated that although the fact that the incident was unfortunate, it was not unexpected because there were more whales in the area than typical.
She told reporters in Sydney, “Right now there are lots of whales out there [so] it’s not unheard of these stories of whales breaching next to boats.” “Right now there are lots of whales out there,” she added.
Initial reports indicate that a whale may have breached either close to the boat or directly onto the vessel.
According to Munro, a witness who was aboard another vessel in the area and saw a boat “doing laps without anybody onboard” dialed 911 and reported the incident.
She stated that it was possible for the males to have been in the water for up to half an hour.
“The skipper stayed as close to the deceased as he could and was doing all that he could to keep him afloat until police arrived,” she said. “The skipper was doing all he could to keep him afloat until police arrived.”
Yasmin Catley, the minister for police in the state of New South Wales, referred to the event as “a terribly tragic accident.”
During a news conference that took place on Saturday morning, she stated that “it is very early stages and there is very little detail… at this point in time.” “We have been made aware that one individual has passed away.”
The Minister of Emergency Services for the state of New South Wales, Jihad Dib, stated that “it’s an absolute freak accident but it also shows the dangers that do happen on waterways.”
Mark Hutchings, the executive director of NSW Maritime, stated that the organization runs “operation launch” at the beginning of the boating season to ensure that boat owners have all of the appropriate safety equipment before they start using their boats again after the winter. This is done so that people may return to using their boats after the winter.
“Regrettably, there have been five fatalities in quite recent times. According to Hutchings, not a single one of the people who were killed was wearing a life jacket when they passed away.
Munro stated that it was not known for certain whether or not the guys involved in the incident that occurred early on Saturday morning were wearing life jackets.
“National Parks would say that if you are on the water you need to be 100m away from an adult whale and 300m away if that adult has a calf,” Hutchings said. “If you are on the water, you need to be 100m away from an adult whale.”
