Cris Lane is fortunate to be alive after a minke whale slammed into his fishing boat, knocking him into the water.
Lane and Dave McCann were fishing Monday off West Cork, Ireland, when several whales began to feed on schooling fish. A minke whale struck the boat as both men were attempting to capture video footage with their cellphones.
Lane and his phone went flying over the rail, while McCann managed to stay on board as his phone captured part of the violent collision.
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“My main thought when I surfaced about 10 feet from the boat was don’t drift away,” Lane told For The Win Outdoors. “David doesn’t have any experience with boats and couldn’t get me.”
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Lane, who was wearing a lifejacket, swam to the boat and climbed safely back on board.
He said the men were fishing above a reef three miles offshore when they spotted a large fin whale, five or six minke whales, and several dolphins feeding on thousands of small fish that had grouped into a bait ball.
They were more than 200 yards away initially, but the moving bait ball delivered the foraging event alongside the boat, and as they held out their phones a minke whale slammed against the side of the vessel.
“It lifted us 3-4 feet out of the water and I think he gave us a slap of his tail for good measure,“ Lane recalled. “Not much went through my mind before I hit the water as it happened in the blink of an eye.”
Lane said the whale struck with a “glancing blow” and seemed to be fine afterward, and added that his vessel was not damaged.
He later shared words of wisdom via Facebook: “Always wear your lifejacket.”
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