One man has died and another is in a stable condition in hospital after a boat capsized after it was reportedly struck by a whale in Sydney.
NSW water police responded to reports that two people were in the water off Cape Banks at La Perouse at about 6am on Saturday morning, after their unoccupied boat was found circling in the waters.
A 61-year-old man was unconscious when he was pulled from the water. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and he was declared deceased, NSW police said.
A second 53-year old man was assisted by witnesses and transferred to Foreshore Road Boat Ramp where he was treated by paramedics before being taken to hospital in a stable condition.
Police were told the men’s 4.8m runabout vessel was likely to have struck or been impacted by a whale breaching, causing the boat to tilt, ejecting both men.
Police said the Foreshore Road boat ramp at Botany remained closed as inquiries continued.
Acting Superintendent Siobhan Munro said with more whales about than usual the incident was tragic but not unexpected.
“Right now there are lots of whales out there [so] it’s not unheard of these stories of whales breaching next to boats,” she told reporters in Sydney.
“Early reports are that a whale may have breached near the boat or on to the boat.”
Munro said a witness onboard a vessel nearby called emergency services after seeing a boat “doing laps without anybody onboard”.
The men could have been in the water for up to 45 minutes, she said.
“The skipper stayed as close as he could to the deceased and was doing all he could to keep him afloat until police arrived,” she said.
The information about the whale came from an initial interview with the skipper, who was in shock, Munro said.
Yasmin Catley, the NSW minister for police, described the incident as “a terribly tragic accident”.
“It’s very early stages and there is very little detail … at this point in time,” she said at a press conference on Saturday morning. “We understand that one person is deceased, and our deepest condolences go to that deceased person’s family.”
Jihad Dib, the NSW minister for emergency services, said “it’s an absolute freak accident but it also shows the dangers that do happen on waterways.”
Mark Hutchings, the executive director NSW Maritime, said the organisation running “operation launch” at the start of boating season to ensure that as people begin to take their boats out again after winter, they have all the safety gear necessary.
“Unfortunately we have had five fatalities quite recently. Not one of those persons that lost their lives were wearing a life jacket,” Hutchings said.
Munro said it was not confirmed whether the men in Saturday morning’s incident were wearing life jackets.
Hutchings said there were an “incredible” number of whales migrating south this year.
“National Parks would say if you are on the water you need to be 100m away from an adult whale and 300m away if that adult has a calf,” Hutchings said.
