Jumbo collision

THE tale of the rescued swimming elephant (Mail) reminded me of the time my son was working on rig support vessels off Iceland. I had heard of an unusual hazard for several nights on the Shipping Forecast — I always listened to it when he was at sea — but his boat found it. They hit a dead elephant!

It had apparently been part of the Russian State Circus and died during transport. They had duly weighted it and cast it into the sea, which would have been the end of it except that a trawler caught it in its nets. The trawler had to cut it loose, which is how my son’s boat came to hit it.

They had a lookout, but the elephant was floating just below the water’s surface so was invisible. As shipping hazards go, it was a one-off. PAT ELLISON-REED,

Glossop, Derbys.