Tran Tasman rower bumps into whale

THREE weeks into his trip from Coffs Harbour to New Zealand, Trans Tasman rower Shaun Quincey unexpectedly bumped into a whale last Friday.

Mr Quincey has reported the incident as the highlight of the trip so far.

He was rowing along on Friday morning, making good time, when all of a sudden he hit something hard.

He immediately thought it was a container and stood up to have a look.

All of a sudden a huge whale head breached the surface next to the boat causing him to drop to his knees and hold onto the safety cable for dear life.

Mr Quincey said it seemed to be about two to three times the 7.3m length of the boat, had a small dorsal fin and had a pretty square head. It hung around for five or so minutes before he quietly rowed away.

He could not believe that in the vastness of the Tasman he could bump straight into a whale.

The 24-year-old New Zealander made good progress on Thursday and Friday and was expecting good weather yesterday after easterly winds made rowing unproductive on Saturday.