An Alaska family was left fighting to stay afloat last month after a massive humpback whale struck their boat in Glacier Bay, sending the vessel beneath the water.
Tania Lewis said she and her family had gone to sleep following a day of sailing on July 29 when the whale hit the boat at about 11:30 p.m., violently jolting them awake.
“[We] heard a giant thud,” Lewis told Alaska’s News Source, “and then the boat just sank.”
Lewis’ son, Lou, was still awake and reading when the impact happened, allowing him to quickly warn his mother and father that the boat was going down.
Even with that warning, the family had only moments to react and could not reach an emergency supply bag that had been stored inside the cabin.
The situation grew even more dangerous when they discovered the emergency dinghy attached to the boat had overturned.
“[I]t was full of water, and it took us a little while to navigate that and finally accidentally flip the dinghy, in which case then we could turn it back over,” Lewis said.
She said the dinghy ultimately helped her and her husband make it to shore, while Lou swam to land using a backpack as a flotation device.
Even after traversing 130 yards of water to reach solid ground, the Lewis family’s problems were far from over.
“Normally, if we had time — and just even like a couple more minutes — we could have been really comfortable on the beach there. But as it was, we had very limited extra clothes and enough emergency equipment to make a fire,” Lewis said.
The clan had to brave the chilly temperatures and waited until 6:30 a.m. the following day until rescue crews could come to their aid.
Crews were able to locate the wrecked ship, and found the giant hole the whale had made in its keel.
Lewis said she spoke to a park biologist later on, who suggested that the whale had rammed the boat while chasing fish in the water.
But in spite of the wreck, Lewis said she and her family were still able to make the best of their time in the wilderness.
“We had a really magical night with the moon, full moon, eventually rose, and when else do you get to sit around the fire with your family all night?” Lewis said.
