Six tourists were injured when a small Mexican tour boat returning to La Paz on the east coast of Baja California struck a whale, sending the vessel airborne and ejecting at least one passenger.
The incident occurred Friday afternoon around 4:30 as the boat was returning to port after a trip to Isla Espiritu Santo in the Gulf of California, according to the Daily Mail.
The boat was being driven at an “excessive speed,” according to Veracruz Radio. When it struck the whale, the boat went flying and ejected a passenger as it came back down atop the water. It was not known if the person landed back in the boat or in the water.
Representatives of the Mexican Navy treated the injured, including a father and two children, whose injuries were minor, but the 41-year-old mother was hospitalized with a liver injury, a blow to the head and a fractured right hand, according to Veracruz Radio.
Veracruz Radio also reported that the Environmental Attorney’s Office is planning to apply sanctions against the owners of the boat.
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“Mexican regulations require boats involved in whale watching to stay a safe distance from the creatures, but the boat involved in Friday’s incident did not appear to be engaged in whale watching — or watching out for whales,” the Associated Press wrote.
Civil Protection spokesman Benjamin Garcia said in a press conference that the boat’s operators might not have known of the whale’s presence.
“The whale came up from the sea and that is when it pushed the boat, with some passengers falling and suffering injuries,” Garcia said, according to the Mirror. “Three people were hospitalized, one of them seriously, and two others were treated at the port.”
The whale was believed to have been a humpback. Its condition is unknown.
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