A whale struck a boat off the coast of eastern Australia on Saturday morning, killing one man and injuring another.
The two men were on board their motorboat when it was hit and overturned around 06:00 local time (20:00 GMT) in the waters of La Perouse, 14 kilometers southeast of Sydney, police said.
People aboard a second boat raised the alarm after seeing the 4.8-meter-long craft unoccupied and turning in circles, police said. A 61-year-old man was pulled out of the water unconscious and died at the scene.
The 53-year-old skipper received treatment at the scene, before being transported to hospital where he is in stable condition.
Many whales at sea right now
The whale approached the small runabout boat and may have hit it, water police official Siobhan Munro told public broadcaster ABC, referring to a "tragic accident".
Humpback whales and southern right whales can be seen along the coast of New South Wales each year. They head north to warmer breeding areas during the Australian winter months and return south between September and November.
"Right now, there are a lot of whales at sea and there are a lot of examples of whales approaching boats," she added.
The accident comes less than two weeks after a four-metre humpback whale was hit in the head by the propeller of a boat off the coast of Western Australia.
