At the end of the July Fourth celebrations in New York harbor, a New Jersey fire and rescue boat that was returning home had a “harrowing” encounter with a surfacing whale the sent the crew overboard and sank the boat. The crew was rescued by a nearby vessel.
The fire and rescue boat was from Carteret, New Jersey. It had been working the on-the-water security detail near the Statue of Liberty during the day’s parade of tall ships when at 4:40 pm the boat sudden began to shake.
A whale was breaching right underneath the boat and struck it at the stern causing catastrophic damage and sending the crew of firefighters into the water. Wearing life jackets, the crew bobbed in the water for a few minutes before a nearby motorboat was able to rescue the rescuers.
A rescue boat from the Perth Amboy Fire District was dispatched and the Carteret team was ferried ashore with no injuries. The Carteret rescue boat, however, did not survive the whale encounter and sank off Raritan Bay.
A spokesman for the fire department noted on their Facebook page, “While the Carteret Fire Department Marine Unit regularly trains to rescue civilians from the water and respond to marine emergencies, fires, and vehicle incidents, an event of this nature is something no one anticipates.”
“Understandably, it has left those involved shaken, but we are incredibly thankful that everyone returned home safely to their families.”
It’s not clear if the whale was injured in the collision.
