A dozen people on board a whale watching boat were left rattled, and their captain injured, after their vessel struck a humpback as it surfaced in the waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca on Monday.
The boat, which belonged to Prince of Whales Whale Watching, was travelling “at speed” near Race Rocks Ecological Reserve south of Victoria when the humpback came out of nowhere, operations manager Ben Duthie told Global News.
Coverage of whales on Globalnews.ca:
“The captain didn’t see it, the passengers didn’t see it,” he said.
The collision sent the boat’s bow airborne before it landed on its side.
Two passengers were hurt and sent to hospital, while the captain suffered an ankle sprain.
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The whale, by all accounts, wasn’t injured. But the incident likely happened because of an increasing population of humpbacks in B.C. waters.
Last year, the Pacific Whale Watch Association reported that large groups of humpback whales had become a common sight in the south coast.
But the so-called “humpback comeback” could mean more collisions with the sea mammals, association president Don Kukat told Global News.
He also said that whale watching tours have the “lowest incident of whale strikes anywhere in the world.”
Government investigation
Fisheries and Oceans Canada is investigating the incident. The ministry told Global News in a statement that it’s believed the whale wasn’t hurt, but that it’s too soon to comment on the cause of the collision.
Meanwhile, Transport Canada is also in touch with Prince of Whales, saying it will take immediate action if it identifies any safety issues.
- With files from The Canadian Press