Posted on 09/04/2002 1:20:02 PM PDT by Shermy
MORRO BAY - Fishermen accustomed to the hazards of one of the most dangerous professions are still shaking their heads over the freak accident that killed Jerry Tibbs on Sunday.
A whale breached and landed on top of Tibbs' boat, the BBQ, knocking the Bakersfield restaurateur and frequent Morro Bay sportfisherman into the ocean.
Coast Guard Chief Mike Saindon has spent the better part of the last three days searching records to see if this kind of fatal tragedy had been documented before. He came up empty.
"I've heard of countless boats hitting whales," said Saindon, the commander of Coast Guard Station Morro Bay.
"That's pretty common, and it's what we expected this to be when we got the distress call," he said. "It really floored us when we saw the boat. We're still in shock. It's quite bizarre."
It's an extreme long shot, according to a local marine surveyor, but it can happen.
"A gray whale breached and landed on the side of my crew boat back around 1979," recounted Jim Wood, a marine surveyor and ship captain from Morro Bay. "It was just outside of Port Hueneme.
"Fortunately, the boat was 65 feet and steel. We were making about 18 knots and managed to slip by before it slammed onto the aft rail and starboard transom corner."
It was probably a humpback whale that struck the BBQ, and it must have been at least 10 feet off the water, said Harold Davis, owner of Davis Boats in Paso Robles and a friend of Tibbs. The damage may have been made worse due to the construction of the hull. It is effectively unsinkable.
"What crushed it was the buoyancy of the boat pushing against the weight of the whale," Davis said. There was heavy damage to the roof and the seat, and major damage to the transom (the back end of the boat), where the whale's body or head hit. "It was a hell of a blow," he added.
The whale rolled over the wheelhouse and badly damaged the transom. Tibbs was thrown into the water and lost his life.
The BBQ's radio antenna was broken by the whale, as was most of the electronic gear. Saindon said the three men left on board were unable to use the electronics to help rescuers find the boat.
"We were unable to hear them on our radio," he said.
Security officers at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant were able to pick them up on their radio.
The Coast Guard rescued the three other Bakersfield men on board the boat -- Charles Brim, Alan Brim and Richard Arrington. Arrington suffered a head injury and was taken to the hospital, treated and released.
Morro Bay contractor Joe Anderton was a "best friend" with Tibbs and fished with him many times. He was supposed to go fishing on the BBQ on Monday but instead spent Sunday night and Monday morning helping organize the volunteer search.
He also went to Port San Luis to pick up the boat, which had a fish hold filled with albacore. Pieces of whale flesh were snagged amid the damage.
Anderton said they gave the fish away to people standing around the hoist, commenting that Tibbs wouldn't have wanted the fish to spoil.
Tibbs Ribs owner dies after accident; Collides with whale off California coast
Would love to see some photographs of this boat....
Condolences to Tibbs' family....
Why is the whale smiling if he is being harpooned by the guy tied to the its back?
Or Fishmeal
Ah, likes the attention? We need a grant to study things like this!
Thanks for the boat photo. Unbelievable!
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