A Whale Slammed Into A Kite Surfer And The Man Just Shook It Off
A whale slammed into a kite surfer and the man just shook it off. My brain has always struggled with the realization of how big the ocean is. Not only how big it is, but how deep it is as well. There are things down there that will never be discovered. Well, at least maybe not in our lifetime. Not knowing what’s in the ocean doesn’t keep me out of it when I go to the beach. However, my wife and I do prefer the Gulf over the Atlantic because the water is much clearer and we can at least see in front of us. My fear leans more towards the depth of the ocean. It’s the reason why I’m not really interested in going on a cruise or even going out on a regular boat a mile or two offshore. The depth absolutely terrifies me.
The Depth
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, reports the ocean at a depth of an average of 3,688 meters or 12,100 feet. They refer to this area as Challenger Deep in honor of the first crew to reach that depth. It happened in 1875 below the western Pacific Ocean and at the southern end of the Mariana Trench. The crew’s vessel was called the HMS Challenger.
The Creatures
Big spaces can hold big creatures and this is especially true for not only untapped areas of the ocean but also beaches in our own backyard. It seems like every year, sharks that weigh thousands and thousands of pounds are moving closer and closer to our shorelines. A surplus of whales has even been spotted more often in popular tourist areas where the occasional whale breech used to be the norm.
Too Close For Comfort
Whales are the largest mammals on earth and a kite surfer in Australia found that out the hard way recently. In the video below, a humpback whale came completely out of the water and body-slammed him! He was then dragged by the whale to about 30 feet underwater before the rope that was caught snapped which allowed him to surface. The video is intense and happens very fast. A whale slammed into a kite surfer and the man just shook it off. No serious injuries were reported.
SOURCE | NOAA
