We just got back from sailing in the Whitsunday Island,
Queensland,
Australia. One afternoon a nervous-sounding American charterer radioed back to base saying they had "run aground" on top of a whale. No damage to either vessel or whale seemed to have occurred. The charterers were wondering whether the
collision needed to be reported to the authorities but the
charter company said "no", only if damage had been sustained. Another yacht quickly contacted the
charter company clarifying that all collisions must be reported to
Queensland Parks and Wildlife. I got the feeling collisions up there aren't completely unusual.
One morning as we were weighing
anchor a whale came within 20 metres of us. That was very cool.