Two boats collide with whales on Monterey Bay

If you are going to sail on the Monterey Bay, be aware that you’ve got company. Recently, there have been two cases where a boat collided with a whale.

Marge Brigadier of Pacific Grove took this photo of what happened when a small power boat struck a whale Sunday afternoon.

Brigardier said the boat’s operator admitted they were going pretty fast when they hit something. The impact forced a woman’s head to snap back and break the boat’s windshield.

She was taken to a Salinas trauma center. A short time later the Coast Guard got a second call that a breaching whale caused a small fishing boat to capsize. Seven people ended up in the water. All were safely rescued.

“When we were talking to the people who were taken off that vessel, they said that they were hit by a whale,” said Brigardier.

The number of whales in the bay has been on the rise, attracted by an increase in anchovies which leads to occasional feeding frenzies. Officials said it’s fortunate no one died in the accidents.