Three Fishermen Rescued After Hitting.. Whale?

Bowhead whales - No connection to the incident.

Here’s something you don’t hear everyday… A father, son and a family friend spent four nerve wracking hours staying afloat in the open ocean off the north-west coast of Australia, after their boat sank from hitting, of all things they could possible hit, a whale.

A spokeswoman with the police has stated that the men were making their way from Port Samson to Geraldton in a 14 meter long boat, about 8 clicks west of the Exmouth peninsula, when they rammed into a whale and began taking on water.

The men, a 47 year old, his son of 22, and a 48 year old friend of the family, did the only thing they could do, make the mayday call, activate their beacon, and dive into the waves.

“They hit something hard, solid, they suspect it’s a whale,” Senior Sergeant of WA Water Police, Greg Trew commented.

“They abandoned ship and were in the water for about four hours.”

The police have stated that there were fortunate to have been wearing their life jackets, as none could be classed as Olympic swimmers.

The men, while dazed from the ordeal, were not suffering any ill effects after having spent four hours bouncing on the waves before being found by an oil tender which was a rescue coordinated by the police and volunteer marine rescue in Exmouth.

“They’re all in good health, they were prepared for it and did everything right,” Sergeant Trew went on to say.

“Horrendous seas out there, it was pretty shocking conditions, 35-knot winds and three to four meter swells, it was pretty nasty. It would have been pretty bloody awful.”