Blue Whales Capsize Boat in San Diego: We Had 'No Time to React,' Says Photographer
Blue whales capsized a boat in San Diego, launching two people into the Pacific Ocean Wednesday, according to reports. Photographer Dale Frink and Captain CiCi Sayer were whale-watching about 12 miles from the shore when one of the enormous whales jumped out of the sea to eat its meal, tiny krill.
The blue whales the capsized the boat even though Captain Sayer followed all the prescribed rules for whale watching— she stayed over 100 yards from the creatures and once they swam underneath their inflatable vessel, she stopped the boat. But it didn't stop the whale, estimated to be 250,000 pounds, from lunging up out of the ocean and throwing the two people from their ship.
"'I was out whale watching today in San Diego when the boat I was a passenger on was overturned by a lunge-feeding blue whale," Frink explained on his Facebook page. "I was not driving and I was not in control of the Zodiac. Neither I nor the captain was hurt save for minor bruises."
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He also made a point of telling people that Sayer was not too close to the whales, but that both of them were surprised by the sudden surfacing.
"But unfortunately the whales came up exactly behind us with no time to react," Frink wrote.
Once Frink and Sayer were knocked into the water, another boater came to their rescue, the U.S. Coast Guard reported. A commercial salvage vessel was able to get the boat after it was capsized.
Though Frink was shocked by the incident, he seemed satisfied that he was able to capture the incident on tape.
"I said to myself, 'Dale, just do what you can, keep yourself safe ... but if you can save that camera –– save the camera,'" he told KFMB news.
