Whale crash-lands onto yacht

2010-07-23 01:09:09 GMT2010-07-23 09:09:09 (Beijing Time) SINA.com

A 40-ton whale suddenly leapt out of the water and crash-landed on a yacht, smashing into the mast. It thrashed about the vessel before rolling back into the water. (Photo: CFP)

A breaching whale mangled the Intrepid, a yacht belonging to Paloma Werner. No one was hurt. The incident happened off Cape Town, South Africa, on Sunday,July 18, 2010. (Courtesy of Paloma Werner)

South African couple Paloma Werner and Ralph Mothes went on NBC's "Today" show Thursday morning to discuss the amazing pictures that have spread all over the world of a 40-ton whale landing on the deck of their yacht.

The couple had seen the whale nearby, but Mothes said he didn't expect it to be on a collision course with the boat. Mothes told NBC's Matt Lauer that suddenly, "I saw this huge monster shape come out of the water on my port side." Watch the interview:

The whale landed on the deck of their boat and then swam away.

"It was an awesome experience," Werner said in the interview. "[But] we wouldn't want to repeat it."

(Agencies)

EMAIL | PRINT | RSS

Add Your Comments:

Please read our Terms of Service. Messages that harass, abuse or threaten others; have obscene or otherwise objectionable content; have spam, commercial or advertising content or links may be removed.