Off the northeast coast of Queensland, Australia, a humpback whale swam out of the water under a boat, throwing it into the air and injuring the people on board. The incident took place near Gloucester Island in Whitsundays.
There were six people aboard the 8.5m aluminium charter boat who were returning from a reef fishing trip.
The impact was of such force that the crew were scattered all over the boat. Of the six, four were injured.
Two people lost consciousness as a result of the impact, one is still in the hospital with facial injuries.
«"It happened so fast, we didn't even realize what we were walking into," Oliver Galea, the boat's skipper, told ABC News. - "Afterwards we saw a whale swimming backwards from the boat. At first we thought we might have hit some debris blown out to sea by Cyclone Debbie but when we saw the dent in the hull, we realized».
The local Department of Environmental Protection urged shipowners to be vigilant. At this time, thousands of humpback whales are migrating along the Queensland coast, seeking warmer waters to give birth to offspring.
