Whale startles tour boat with a surprise tap
A 60-foot whale-watch boat reported a "glancing blow" from a breaching humpback Tuesday off Kauai, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said yesterday.
The incident did not harm the boat, the 49 people on board or, apparently, the whale, said Mike Killary, a NOAA Office for Law Enforcement special agent.
The situation Tuesday was apparently similar to a whale-ship collision Jan. 2 about 12 miles off Maui, Killary said.
In Tuesday's noontime incident, "the whale-watching vessel was returning from a whale-watching trip, going about 15 knots," Killary said, when "a whale they had not seen breached and hit them with a glancing blow."
The whale breached behind the boat two more times, along with another whale, Killary said. When the crew determined the whale seemed to be OK, the boat returned to port, he said.
Judith Fogarty, NOAA special agent-in-charge for law enforcement, praised both boat captains for following proper procedure and notifying NOAA.