Cynics at various online forums are insisting this must be a Photoshopped image, but I don’t think so. News outlets in South Africa are reporting this as fact: on Sunday a large southern right whale hurled itself on to a 33-foot steel sloop belonging to Paloma Werner and Ralph Mothes, who run the Cape Town Sailing Academy. This occurred in Table Bay. The whale reportedly was uninjured, but the boat didn’t fare so well.
As you can see here. Lots and lots of damage, but the steel hull is intact. Which, again, is a good argument for sailing a metal boat.
Those of you who sail in Table Bay should take note. The southern right whale, which likes to breed in the area, is reportedly doing very well these days, with its population increasing at close to its maximum reproduction rate. So little incidents like this are more likely to happen in the future.
BoaterMouth link: here
