Whale Jumps onto Yacht Off the Coast of Cape Town

There are a lot of high-profile animal attacks that have occurred in the past, and usually they are due to someone or something provoking them. One of the oddest cases of an animal attack happened recently, when a whale jumped onto a yacht just off of the coast of Cape Town. This story seems like it should be in a movie, instead of being a scary reality for the two people on the boat.

According to the Guardian, a 40-ton whale jumped onto a yacht off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, owned by Ralph Motes and Paloma Werner. The whale quickly went back into the water, seemingly not injured by the crash onto the small yacht. The yacht only had a broken mast, so the couple was able to steer it back to the Table Bay Habor. People in the area claim that the couple was harassing the whale and they had breached the required distance between the vessel and the animal.

This story is similar to when there was a killer whale attack at Sea World in Orlando, Florida, during a show. According to New York Daily News, a killer whale attacked a trainer during a routine show and dragged her under the water where she later died. Tilikum was the oldest and largest killer whale in captivity in the world, and was a problem before this occurred. The onlookers saw the horror as the veteran trainer was pulled from the water at the waist and was being thrown around by the killer whale. The killer whale attack was very high-profile because of the fact it happened at Sea World, a place known for great live shows. The debate began about whether or not such fierce mammals should be held captive for our own enjoyment.

Both of these instances seem to indicate that a whale or other mammal is unpredictable, and being around them is not a good idea. It seems these two instances were just freak accidents, but ,at the same time, it also speaks for the unpredictability of the wild animal. When you are around a whale or shark, you have to realize the immediate danger and potential risk you are taking, whether you are a trained professional or not.

It is unclear if anyone provoked the whale on the yacht, but it might have played a role in the whale attacking the boat. We look at these cases and think they are freak accidents, but sometimes there might be more to the story. Part of it could be animal aggression because of the fact these people were in the territory of the whale, and the whale might not have been too happy about that.

The Sea World high-profile attack could also be a case of animal aggression, because a wild animal is not domesticated enough to be a performer. Both of these cases are a mixture of animal instinct and aggression, as well as a freak accident that is rare. When we think about a whale, we still have to remember they are unpredictable wild animals that can become aggressive at any moment.

Philip Hoare, "Would a Whale Deliberately Destroy a Yacht?", The Guardian

Jennifer Carlile, "Whale of a tale! 40-ton mammal lands on yacht", MSNBC

Maryam K. Ansari, "Orlando SeaWorld Whale Attack: Third Kill by Tilikum?", Find Law Blog