Authorities in the Sydney suburb of North Curl had to use loudspeakers from shore to warn surf boarding sightseers to get away from a full-grown Southern Right whale that came coasting toward shore. The mighty mammal is fairly tranquil around humans but it began to get skittish as the surfers moved in close for a better view. One rather fooloish man had his son on his board with him. As seen in the pictures inset, and in the video, the whale lashes out at one of the surfers with its tail. It then moves quickly and lunges toward the same surfer. But the whale’s actions all seem defensive and it did not pursue any of the surf boarders. “To be honest,” said one witness, “they were harassing it a bit. They were so close it had no room to move. If I was the fish, I’d be harassed too.” By Australian law, surfers should stay 330 feet away from a whale. “I was pretty worried to see one guy out there with the kid on his board,” said Hansen. “It’s a big animal, one tail flick and we could have a death on our hands.” Southern Right whales can weigh up to 70 tonnes and grow up to about 50 feet long.Whale lashes out with tail at sightseeing surfers
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Authorities in the Sydney suburb of North Curl had to use loudspeakers from shore to warn surf boarding sightseers to get away from a full-grown Southern Right whale that came coasting toward shore. The mighty mammal is fairly tranquil around humans but it began to get skittish as the surfers moved in close for a better view. One rather fooloish man had his son on his board with him. As seen in the pictures inset, and in the video, the whale lashes out at one of the surfers with its tail. It then moves quickly and lunges toward the same surfer. But the whale’s actions all seem defensive and it did not pursue any of the surf boarders. “To be honest,” said one witness, “they were harassing it a bit. They were so close it had no room to move. If I was the fish, I’d be harassed too.” By Australian law, surfers should stay 330 feet away from a whale. “I was pretty worried to see one guy out there with the kid on his board,” said Hansen. “It’s a big animal, one tail flick and we could have a death on our hands.” Southern Right whales can weigh up to 70 tonnes and grow up to about 50 feet long.