Whale lands on holidaying Britons' boat

Sydney - A family on their "holiday of a lifetime" have told how a 30ft whale launched itself out of the ocean and landed on their boat off the east coast of Australia.

The family said they were lucky to have survived after the huge mammal crashed on to their boat, sending a 40ft mast crashing into the water.

The humpback whale - one of the largest creatures in the sea - also destroyed a metal safety rail and ripped rigging out of the boat.

Trevor and Mary Johnson, of Coventry, were on holiday with their sons Anthony and Mark, 24 and 27, and Mark's girlfriend, Helen Wilkinson, also 24.

Mark said: "There was a bang and a thud, and a whale came about 12ft out of the water and slid down the port side. It took all the rigging with it and when it came level with where we were it let out a long, eerie groan.

"My brother pushed himself away from the whale, because we didn't know if it might fall our way. It was shedding barnacles from its tummy and caught itself on the rigging. I was very, very shocked - it was very scary."

Trevor Johnson, whose son Anthony is working in Sydney, said the family were enjoying "the holiday of lifetime" and had decided to charter a boat for a 10-day sailing trip round the Whitsunday Islands.

The 61-year-old teacher said he was below deck at the time but that the radio had been knocked during the incident which he described as "earth-shattering".

He said: "I heard this almighty groan and bang and came up on board and the first thing I thought was how sunny it was, because the mast had been blocking the sunlight. This was literally a life-threatening situation. We were 10 miles out to sea and had no equipment to radio for help."

The family were towed to shore an hour and a half later, after Anthony used his mobile phone to call for help. -- Annanova News

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