A man was knocked out by the tail of a curious whale swimming unusually close to the shore.
The Australian man was knocked unconscious when he swam too close to a whale's tail, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Bishan Rajapakse, a 38-year-old doctor, was swimming at Bondi beach when he saw a friendly-looking whale, but the marine mammal gave the swimmer a crushing blow with its tail.
The man was knocked out, but nearby surfers and lifeguards kept him above water and brought him back to shore. Rajapakse was taken to a nearby hospital where he spent the day nursing his injured head.
The entire beach was fascinated when the whale swam by some surfers only about 130 feet offshore. The fun turned to panic when the (what was thought to be) southern right whale slapped the doctor in the head.
According to the National Parks and Wildlife Amendment (Marine Mammals) Regulation 2006, swimmers should stay at least 100 feet away from larger aquatic creatures.
The last thing Rajapakse remembers is saying "Hey, how's it going?" to the whale when he was less than three feet 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," Rajapakse said.
The doctor swam over to the whale when a friend called him over to see the giant figure under the water.
"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," Rajapakse said.
"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 realized I was on the inside of a circle of surfers and it was just to the right of me," he said.
After getting slapped with the tail Rajapakse remained underwater for 15 seconds before the surrounding surfers pulled him up.
The 30-foot whale continued to swim around the surfers, interested in what they were doing. Three hours later it was escorted north of the beach by police boats.
''I think it's a good cautionary tale to tell people to watch from about [30 feet]. I had thought it was safe because there were other people there but that was an incorrect assumption,'' Rajapakse said.
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