A COUPLE'S cruise was nearly sunk when a 40-ton WHALE landed on their yacht.
The massive Southern Right Whale had flipped into the air and smashed their mast.
Terrified Ralph Mothes, 59, and Paloma Werner, 50, were helpless as it thrashed around on the ten-metre vessel, before slipping back into the sea off Cape Town, South Africa.
The shaken couple used their engine to get back to shore. Paloma said yesterday: "It really was quite incredible - but very scary."
Researchers from the Queensland Brain Institute used remote-controlled cameras that sat on the sea floor, 1,400m (4,600ft) below the surface.
Photograph by David Liittschwager, National GeographicA translucent body disguises a larval flounder to keep it safe from predators. It will lose this defense mechanism later in life. Flounder undergo several striking physical transformations during their lifetimes. Very young flounder swim upright and have an eye on each side of their face. As they age the fish begin to swim on their sides and one eye slowly migrates until both are on the body’s “top side.”
Photograph by Awashima Marine Park, Getty Images
