WHALE, BOAT COLLIDE

BRIER ISLAND, N.S. — A video showing a humpback whale colliding with an eight-passenger tour boat off the coast of Nova Scotia is making waves online, just a few months after the introduction of new federal rules limiting the distance between vessels and marine mammals. David Mulder, a passenger on the Zodiac inflatable whale watching boat, posted the video from Sept. 2 showing the whale’s tail suddenly rising from the water and then hitting the bow of the small boat. Guy Melville, who has been leading whale watching tours for 10 years, said it had been a quiet day on the water, aside from a few spouts earlier in the trip when the whale lifted its tail in front of the boat. Within a few seconds, the animal resurfaced for what Melville calls the “friendly tap” captured on video. Melville estimated the animal was longer than 15 metres.