A fisherman suffered a gash on his forehead and several other people sustained broken bones after a whale slammed into a boat off the Australian coast this weekend in a "freak accident" that sent those aboard the boat flying into the air.
Oliver Galea, 44, told 9NEWS he was on the boat with five tourists and three crewmembers off the Bowen coast in northeastern Australia when the whale struck them. Galea recalled everyone being knocked to the ground in a "split second."
"There was no sign of it. It was a very rare, freak accident," Galea said.
It was not immediately clear what type of whale struck the boat.
The fisherman got up with blood running down his face and a big gash in the middle of his forehead. Several other people on the boat suffered broken bones and one tourist, identified as Mark Young, of Zambia, was knocked unconscious, 7News reported.
Galea focused on getting the battered crew back to shore, but he had only one engine to rely on after the whale "attack."
"All I wanted to do was get them in, and we were down to one engine because the whale knocked the other one out," Galea told 9NEWS.
The crew eventually made it back to shore. Galea received stitches on his forehead. The other injured people also recovered from the terrifying incident.
"We all caught up on Sunday night and we have made good friends from the experience. We are all glad we made it," Galea said.
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