Sydney: Marine electronics technician A.E. Patterson has discovered that the
depth finder used aboard a sailboat that was attacked by a whale was faulty
and may have provoked the whale into attacking the craft.
Marine biologist Ian McDonald said the sounds from the defective transducer
mimicked those of a territorial whale. Patterson added the transducer may
have given faulty depth readings as well. Yacht skipper Geoff Whitlam said
he noticed no malfunction of the unit at all and remarked that at the time
of the attack the head was clogged and being unplugged. Tommy Woodcock,
aboard and unclogging the head at the time of attack added that the sound of
the pumping unit was quite strange as it was filled with toilet paper and a
unusually large grogen. "The grogen had fermented for about a day in the
escape chute" Woodcock asserted. "Perhaps the aquatic mammal recognized the
yacht as a whale giving birth to a mutated offspring and acted accordingly".
"Needless to say, it'll be a while before I patronize Rachel Carson's tuck
shop, I couldn't stomach strolling about with a trolley load of Aussie pies
and vegemide".