Tourist Killed By Whale: 35-Year-Old Woman Killed When Whale Breaches On Boat

A tourist was killed by a whale while vacationing in Mexico. According to Mail Online, Jennifer Carren, 35, was on her way back from a snorkeling excursion when the boat came in contact with a whale.

Some say that the whale breached, landing right on the boat that Carren was in. Others say that the whale hit the side of the boat, knocking the woman out. Either way, the impact sent the Canadian native flying into the water. Despite an immediate response from the boat’s captain and from the Mexican Navy, the woman was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

“In a statement, tour operator Cabo Adventures said the boat’s captain ‘had to make a movement to avoid a whale that surfaced just in front of the boat.’ It added that the whale hit one side of the boat, causing injuries to the woman and two others. No other details are known at this time and the Cabo San Lucas Tourism Board did not respond to a request for comment.”

The tourist killed by the whale was with 23 other passengers at the time of the incident. Exact details are unclear, and the woman’s exact cause of death is unknown. The other two people who were injured are expected to be okay.

According to BBC News, these types of accidents don’t happen often. In recent weeks, the gray whale population in the area has increased, which isn’t necessarily a danger, but it can complicate navigating the area. The boat’s captain even said that he was forced to make a “sudden turn” to avoid a pod.

“On Wednesday, Mexican authorities said more than 2,500 grey whales had gathered in the area, one of the highest numbers in the past two decades. The lagoons and bays off Baja California Sur are popular with pregnant females who bear their calves here.”

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, gray whales are an endangered species. While a gray whale may have been responsible for this woman’s death, several of its kind are killed after coming in contact with large ships.

“Oil and gas development, entanglement in fishing gear, and collisions with ships threaten gray whales. The western North Pacific gray whale is on the verge of extinction because of such threats. The waters off Russia’s Sakhalin Island, a main feeding habitat for them in the summer, are being targeted for oil and gas development. In the eastern Pacific Ocean, the potential for oil and gas exploration in the Bering and Chukchi Seas also exists. Whales are very sensitive to noise and such industrial activities generate massive underwater booms. The gray whale must get an entire year’s worth of food during those summer months and any disruption could have significant impact on this process.”

[Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images]