Been lurking for awhile.... here's an .02 regarding the subject of whales and boats. Here in the northern part of Southeast Alaska, we have a relatively large population of humpback whales during the summer months. We have at least one boat/whale incident every year. The occurences are usually where a whale will surface directly under a vessel that is drifting or anchored with engines off (good halibut fishermen anchor in 150 to 250 ft of water). Some have been sunk but many damaged when literally thrown on their beams. It is not unusual to see 4-5 feet of a whales back out of the water as they surface to breathe, more when they sound. We had a large adult humpback surface within 20 feet of us this past August. The only whales we had seen in the area were more than a mile away previous to this. The atmosphere was very aromatic after this incident (was it the fish breathe or my trousers?) There have also been some incidents where whales have surfaced in front of fast (planing hull) boats. Two gentlemen were in a skiff travelling at about 30 kts last summer when this happened to them. The news article quoted one of them (a commercial airline pilot) saying he estimated he was a good 20 feet in the air at the apex.... Mark Miles "Gavia" Tradewinds 33