Race against time to save crew after colossal, rarely seen deep sea beasts smash up yacht in Pacific

A crew were left stranded in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean after a large pod of sperm whales sunk their yacht.Four shipmates from the 52ft Tai Tam were forced to abandon ship when up to eight of the extremely rare beasts thrashed up against the vessel at the weekend.Dramatic footage showed the craft slowly sinking as it took on seawater caused by a huge hole in the side of it, before rescue crews managed to save them 18 hours later.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

Please provide a valid email.By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Never miss a story The crew had set out from New Zealand but were left stranded 250 nautical miles north of the tiny remote Norfolk Island.Australian Jemma Cooper told CBS News she was manning the steering wheel of the ship when it was suddenly pushed sideways.“There was sort of a loud thud.The whole boat was pushed sideways,” she said.

She then spotted a sperm whale stalking the vessel in the water.“We looked out to our port side, and there were six to eight, a pod, of whales there.So then it became clear that that’s what it was,” she told AFP.The jolt awoke her husband, Jeremy Cooper.

He knew immediately that the bump signaled something “very serious.”The boat began taking on water, and the crew needed to jump into action to get through the life-threatening emergency.As it turned out, Cooper said, the collision damaged the boat’s steering and left them unable to guide it.“All the steering gear was smashed on the starboard side, and there was a significant amount of water coming in,” Jeremy told AFP.French crew member Martin Jaffre said the collision left gashes in the boat’s hull and cracked its fiberglass structure.

Because of the massive amounts of water pouring into the boat, New Zealand crew member Terry Hetherington said the boat declared a “full mayday” at 1 p.m.New Zealand tim...