'We sat in the life raft and watched the boat sink': sperm whale pod rams and sinks yacht 250 nautical miles from Norfolk Island
From the Newshound archive · first published 1 October 2026 · last updated 2 October 2026.
A pod of six to eight sperm whales rammed the 52ft yacht Tai Tam in the remote South Pacific, fracturing the hull and driving the vessel to the ocean floor while the four-person crew fought for survival over 18 hours. Australian Jemma Cooper, at the helm when the whales struck, was knocked away from the steering wheel by the force of the collision. The crew triggered an emergency beacon 30 minutes after impact and spent the night bailing water by hand before finally abandoning the yacht.
Frenchman Martin Jaffre dived beneath the stricken yacht to inspect the damage, finding multiple gashes in the hull and a cracked fibreglass structure.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft searched for the vessel while the crew launched a life raft onto the calm sea at midnight.
New Zealand crew member Terry Hetherington said: 'We sat in the life raft and watched the boat sink 100 metres away from us — not a great moment.'