Sperm Whale Rams Fishing Boat In The Middle Of The Ocean
A group of fishermen off the coast of Chile were astonished recently when a massive sperm whale approached their relatively small boat, before ramming it head on.
Two of the whales were spotted by the fishing boat’s crew as they were operating off the coast of Lebu, central Chile, last month. As one of the crewmen filmed the animals, they disappeared below the waves for several minutes, before resurfacing near the boat. One of the sperm whales then turned directly toward the vessel, prompting nervous laughter from the fishermen, who quickly raised their voices in alarm as the animal struck the side of the boat.
‘Peaceful’ sperm whale rams fishing boat head on http://t.co/MW82IFbrJt pic.twitter.com/Oh27eDOPTN
— Metro (@MetroUK) February 24, 2015
As the cameraman continued to film, the sperm whale swam under the edge of the vessel, raising it and causing it to rock. After a moment, the sperm whales then dove below the waves, leaving the fishermen to film their raised tails as they descended into the depths.
The video was posted to YouTube by Catalina Sandoval February 17, and at least one commenter asserted that her father was the man filming the sperm whales.
“Unique experience, and your dad recorded well at the right time,” they noted.
A sperm whale next to a human diver. pic.twitter.com/L8xJ57HByS — Mike (@MikeTaylor2011) February 21, 2015
Late last year, seven sperm whales were found washed up on a South Australian beach, victims of an apparent mass stranding event. Conflicting theories were advanced to explain the stranding, with some suggesting that the whales became trapped while hunting for salmon. Others postulated that one of the sperm whales could have become sick, moving into the shallows before calling out for help, and causing the rest of its pod to follow. An eighth whale was also discovered nearby, but was able to make its way back out to sea, surviving the ordeal that claimed the lives of its brethren.
Sperm whale poos on divers with rare defence mechanism | Daily Mail Online http://t.co/FNr6NFXkgA pic.twitter.com/zvehmubNkO
— Pawel Pachniewski (@Pawelotti) February 5, 2015
More recently, a group of divers were astonished when a sperm whale they were photographing used a rarely seen defense mechanism, weaponizing its own bowel movement to force them out of the area. The whale began defecting in front of the interlopers, yet instead of diving, it remained at the ocean’s surface, spinning in place to cover the divers in fecal matter. After swimming out of the cloud, the group noted that the sperm whale’s excrement washed off, failing to leave any traces behind.
[Image: YouTube/ Catalina Sandoval via the Telegraph]
