Rogue Wave Slams Whale Watching Boat, Injuring 8 Students
The conditions were so rough, some of the people on board passed out.
— -- A rogue wave slammed into a boat carrying students on a whale watching trip off of Massachusetts Wednesday, sending eight to the hospital.
The boat -- the Captain John & Son II -- was carrying 112 people, all part of a high school group from New York, when it was struck by a wave, according to ABC-affiliated station WCVB-TV. The students on the 76-foot boat were whale watching off of Cape Cod.
“Everyone went sliding down because no one was holding on,” student Marisa Kehley said. “I was terrified. I didn’t think that waves that big could hit a boat.”
The wave, as high as eight feet, combined with 20-knot winds to create conditions so rough that some of the passengers on board the boat passed out.
Emergency crews were waiting when the boat reached the dock, and eight people were taken to an area hospital, many of them suffering cuts and bruises. All of the students were later released from the hospital.
The situation had some students fearful of going back on the water.
“I never want to go on another whale watch again,” Kehley said. “I didn’t think that the ocean was going to be that bad.”
