Permission to come aboard, Captain?

[Subdivisions]

A couple out on a quiet boating trip off the coast of South Africa got the shock of their lives when they were suddenly joined on deck by a 40-ton southern right whale.
Yacht skipper Ralph Mothes, 59, is seen in this amazing photograph dwarfed by the whale as it breaches right next to his yacht Intrepid.

A split-second after the picture was taken the 30ft-long whale slammed into the deck, snapping the steel mast like a twig and crushing the coach roof and side rigging.

Southern rights, an endangered species, can grow up to 50ft long and weigh 60 tons, so this one was probably a youngster.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1296474/Spot-endangered-species-yacht-trip-turns-modern-day-Moby-Dick-southern-right-whale-lands-deck-couple.html#ixzz0uN4knU8b

[uppityperson]

1. Whoa! k&r for yikes

[rurallib]

2. good thing it was just a pup. YIKES

[Subdivisions]

5. Indeed! =) n/t

[bigwillq]

3. A K and R

for a great subject line! :)

[Subdivisions]

4. Thanks! =o) n/t

[JerseygirlCT]

6. Who was taking the picture?

And were those on the boat ok?

That's something!

[uppityperson]

11. here's the After shot... and another article

"A tourist from Botswana who was aboard a nearby sightseeing boat captured before and after shot"


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/07/southern-right-whale-crashes-sailing-party-literally.html

South African sailing instructors Paloma Werner and Ralph Mothes got a whale-sized shock Sunday -- a 33-foot, 40-ton shock, to be specific -- when a southern right whale crash-landed on their sailboat in the waters off Cape Town.

Werner and Mothes first saw the whale about 110 yards from their boat; before they knew it, they said, it was only 11 yards or so from them, and lack of wind prevented them from taking evasive action to avoid it. The whale leapt and crashed into the vessel, breaking its mast but causing no other major damage.

The whale probably suffered no ill effects other than bruising and the loss of a bit of skin and blubber, a marine mammal expert said. But officials from the local Department of Environmental Affairs are investigating allegations that the couple may have approached the whale illegally.

Right whales are believed to have been named by whalers who considered them the right -- as in, correct -- type of whale to hunt. Those whalers decimated their populations, leading them to the brink of extinction before protections began to help them bounce back.

[niyad]

7. k and r--a great shot!!

[malaise]

8. Wow!

Freaking wow!

[sarge43]

9. "You're going to need a bigger boat." n/'t

[lob1]

10. Cigarette, cigarette, cigarette....WHALE, WHALE, WHALE!!

[whyverne]

12. He thought it was one of those BP guys! nt

[Subdivisions]

13. LOL! Too bad it wasn't Tony Hayward's yacht. n/t

[roguevalley]

14. probably heard that the last female white rhino in the wild was

poached a few days ago, leaving her calf bawling. (They took the calf in to raise it.)

[Hugabear]

15. "Excuse me, do you have any Grey Poupon?"

n/t

[Subdivisions]

16. Shameless self-kick. This is on MSNBC today. n/t

[Soylent Brice]

17. wild!!

crazy stuff.