Fourteeen year old Sam Matheson from Western Australia is a typical teenager. He swam out to a 14m whale, stroked it and then climbed on its back. Now the teenager says he just wanted a closer look but admits that he made a mistake. He didn't realize just how passionate people are about whales.
"I was down at the beach with my mate Shayden. The whale was right there, only 15m from the rocks. I wanted to take a closer look. I swam out to it and put my arms around it, sort of laid against it for about 30 seconds, I was out of the water from the waist up. It had a leather texture, really soft and it didn't even notice me until I laid on it, then it lifted up its tail and went under and pulled me down a bit, but I was fine and swam back to the rocks."
The problem started when someone on the beach saw Sam on the whale's back, took a photo and went to the authorities. Since then, some of the people in town are furious with Sam and want to make a example of him. His mother came to his rescue. "He's grown up around the ocean, he loves surfing, fishing and diving. Sam would never even keep an undersize fish let alone harm a whale. He's been taught to care for the ocean.
Officers interviewed Sam who was remorseful and he was let off with a warning. Harrassing protected species is an offence and the exclusion zone around whales is 100m for boats, surfers and people in kayaks.
Poor kid was just curious what the whale was like. Fair enough they have these laws to protect the whales though.
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