I suppose that it was possible that he was sunk by a whale.

Jonathan... Now that you mentioned it...

A friend of mine (K7HI) is the Radio-Electronics Officer aboard the
Matson container ship "Kauai". Just a couple of days ago... North
of the victim's assumed location the Kauai wrapped a fairly good
sized whale (they think it was a Blue) around the bow just above
the bulb.

The bridge watch at the time... first noticed a drop in RPMs from
100 to 90... and speed... as well as an irregular wake pattern.

Needless to say... the "critter" was killed as a result of the im-
pact.

Bill