Calgary woman dies after whale slams into boat
CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico — A 35-year-old Calgary woman has died and two other tourists were injured when a surfacing whale crashed onto their boat near Cabo San Lucas in Mexico on Wednesday.
An Alberta family member identified the victim as Jennifer Karren but declined further comment.
The Attorney General’s Office for Environmental Protection says two other tourists suffered “considerable” injuries when at approximately 11 a.m., the whale breached and hit the side of the boat, which had been carrying nine tourists on a snorkel tour. The collision near the beach resort of Cabo San Lucas tossed the victim into the water.
According to the tour company Cabo Adventures, the incident took place as the tour was returning from Santa Maria.
“When the boat was close to the hotel Fiesta Americana, the captain had to make a sudden manoeuvre to avoid a whale that appeared directly in front of the boat,” said Ing. Felipe Diez-Canedo, general director of Cabo Adventures, in a statement. “The whale hit the boat on one side, which caused two passengers to be hurt and unfortunately, the death of one other passenger.”
The woman ended up in the water and was pulled out by a guide and another boat passenger. A passenger, who was a nurse, conducted CPR until a rescue team arrived and took the woman aboard their watercraft, where they continued administering first aid.
“On arrival to the marina, the paramedics took the passenger to a private hospital, where, unfortunately, the passenger passed away,” Diez-Canedo said.
One of the two injured guests was a 45-year-old American woman who sustained a head injury, according to Juan Antonio Carvajal, commander of the fire department in Cabo San Lucas. She is now in stable condition.
Cabo Adventures said one of the injured guests has been released from hospital and the second is travelling back to the United States for further medical attention.
The fire department said they had never responded to a call like this before.
“Incidents involving a whale? No. We have not seen an incident like this before,” the fire commander said.
Despite reports that the whale involved in the incident was a grey whale, it was actually a humpback, local marine biologist Anna Madrigal said.
While this type of accident is rare, there was another incident last year involving a humpback and a fishing boat, she said. No one died in that incident, but at least one person was injured.