A family's sailing trip in Alaska's Glacier Bay ended abruptly when a humpback whale struck their boat, causing it to sink on July 29. The incident occurred around 11:30 p.m. while the family was asleep.
Tania Lewis, a passenger on the boat, told Alaska's News Source that the family heard a "giant thud" before the vessel began to sink. Her son, Lou, who was awake at the time, alerted the rest of the family. Despite the early warning, the family was unable to retrieve an emergency bag of supplies. An attached dinghy had flipped over, and it took time to right it and make it usable. Lewis and her husband reached shore by paddling the dinghy, while their son swam to land using a backpack for flotation.
After reaching shore approximately 130 yards away, the family faced cold temperatures with limited extra clothing and only enough emergency equipment to start a fire. They waited until 6:30 a.m. the following day for rescue crews to arrive.
Rescue crews located the wrecked boat and identified a large hole in its keel, consistent with a whale impact. A park biologist suggested that the whale may have been chasing fish when it collided with the sailboat. Despite the ordeal, Lewis described the experience as having a "magical night" on the beach, watching the full moon rise and spending the night around a campfire with her family.