A humpback whale was swimming amongst surfers at Sydney’s Bondi Beach over the weekend. It knocked Bishan Rajapakse unconscious. The reported 15m whale was some 30m from shore when it left Rajapakse unconscious for approximately 10 seconds. Thanks to the aid of fellow surfers Rajapakse was brought back to the beach and was later taken to hospital where he was treated for head and shoulder injuries. Rajapakse said:

I just remember this magnificent whale slowly coming to the right of me and coming for another look. I just kind of felt like talking to it like a dog or an animal, and say ‘hey’, that was it. Maybe it was giving me ‘high five’, I don’t know.

Eyewitness Lachlan Harris said:

You just saw basically surfers, surfboards, swimmers thrown into the air like skittles, I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like they were soft toys getting thrown around the cot by a whale, and, you know, the whole beach sort of gasped basically.

Rajapakse has since been released from hospital.

[Source: YouTube, The Guardian]