Close Encounter With An Aquatic Animal's Tail Leaves Man Hurt

Whale slaps man. It's a story that could be set only at Bondi Beach and it happened under a clear cobalt Sunday morning sky before hundreds of strollers, joggers, skateboarders, posers and coffee drinkers.

Out on the water, Bishan Rajapakse, a 38-year-old Bondi doctor, had been peering into the eye of an amicable whale, thought to be a southern right, when he was given the slapdown to end all slapdowns.

Dr Rajapakse was knocked out but, supported by other surfers, lifeguards came out and he was taken to St Vincent's Hospital where he spent the rest of the day with a sore head.

Whale slaps man. It's a story that could be set only at Bondi Beach and it happened under a clear cobalt Sunday morning sky before hundreds of strollers, joggers, skateboarders, posers and coffee drinkers.
Out on the water, Bishan Rajapakse, a 38-year-old Bondi doctor, had been peering into the eye of an amicable whale, thought to be a southern right, when he was given the slapdown to end all slapdowns.
Dr Rajapakse was knocked out but, supported by other surfers, lifeguards came out and he was taken to St Vincent's Hospital where he spent the rest of the day with a sore head.

According to the the National Parks and Wildlife Amendment (Marine Mammals) Regulation 2006, swimmers should keep a minimum 30 metres from a cetacean. Dr Rajapakse got up close and unfriendly. The last thing he recalled was saying, "Hey, how's it going?" to the whale when it was less then a metre away.

''I remember trying to talk to it and then that is the last thing I remember before I realised I was off my board and on my front," Dr Rajapakse said.

He had been surfing at the southern end of the beach when a friend called him over about 10am. "When I got to him I saw there was this dark, black shadow and it was just massive," Dr Rajapakse said.

"The whale was moving in like slow motion. It was beautiful and it breached and we could see the barnacles and it was slowly going up and down and turning and it actually made a noise.

"We were watching it peacefully and then it looked like it was going away. It came back as if it were curious and suddenly I realised I was on the inside of a circle of surfers and it was just to the right of me."

One of the other surfers, Mark Greig, son of the late cricket legend Tony Greig, warned Dr Rajapakse to move away from the whale seconds before the tail landed.

Left unconscious: Surfer Bishan Rajapaske recovers in St Vincents Hospital.

He remained under water for about 15 seconds and surfers dived to bring him to the surface. One of them, Tony Spanos, held him up while he was unconscious.

Mr Spanos said the whale was ''cruising around for 15 minutes. He was quite inquisitive. He was just watching us.

''The whale looked mid age, with lots of barnacles on its back. It was about 10 metres long''. The victim ''got really heavily smashed and went straight under,'' said Mr Spanos. ''I dived down and grabbed him.

There was a guy out there on a big mal. I called him over. We lifted him on and we started paddling back to shore.''

Apart from a whale of a headache, Dr Rajapakse needs a new wetsuit because medical staff cut his to shreds when he arrived at St Vincent's Hospital.

He is also contrite about staying in the whale's domain. ''I think it's a good cautionary tale to tell people to watch from about 10 metres back. I had thought it was safe because there were other people there but that was an incorrect assumption,'' he said.

The whale hung around for another two hours before heading north under the escort of a police boat and three jet-skis.

RESTRICTIONS

Keeping distances from whales
Swimmer: 30 metres
Boat: 100 metres
Jet ski, plane or boat (if calves in pod): 300 metres
Helicopter or gyrocopter: 500 metres

TYPES OF WHALES PASSING NOW

Southern right
Humpback
Minke
Pilot
Bryde's
 

Early June is the peak time for whales to be seen close to shore 6000-10,000 whales will pass Sydney's coastline in the June and July northern migration, compared to only 294 in 2000.