Whale hits back

A Norwegian fisherman described yesterday how a 24ft-long minke whale attacked and pursued his 15ft boat, Reuter reports from Oslo. 'My teacup flew across the table when the minke whale hit the boat,' Leif Hansen, 59, said.

'Then it kept popping up ahead of me and I was forced to turn the boat in order not to dock on its back. The whale followed me for about 15 minutes.' Norway allowed catching of minke whales this year.