A Canadian woman died and two people were injured when their tourist boat collided with a whale close to the Mexican resort of Cabo San Lucas.
“The captain had to make a movement to avoid a whale that surfaced just in front of the boat,” the boat operators, Cabo Adventures, said in a statement. “The whale hit one side of the boat, leaving two people injured and another passenger hurt who, unfortunately, later died in hospital.”
The woman was identified by local media as Jeniffer Carren, 35, who was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital in the resort town on the Pacific coast side of the Baja California Peninsula.
Initial reports from the incident were confused, with one suggesting that the woman had fallen into the water after the collision with the boat, which was carrying 24 passengers and crew. She was then given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation by another passenger, who happened to be a nurse, before a Mexican naval rescue team arrived and rushed her to the hospital.
There were even reports that the whale had jumped out the water and landed on the inflatable craft.
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Cabo San Lucas, a resort famous for its whale-watching tours, has registered a two-decade high in the number of grey whales gathering in its water during this year’s season, which runs from mid-December to the end of April, up 10 per cent on last year.