The three family members escaped a rapidly sinking 25-foot sailboat and spent the night on shore before park rangers reached them.
GUSTAVUS, Alaska — A Southeast Alaska family survived after a humpback whale struck their anchored sailboat in Glacier Bay National Park, opening a large hole in the vessel and sending it beneath the water within about three minutes, according to the family and local reports.
The July 29 collision left Tania Lewis, her husband, Eric, and their 23-year-old child, Lu, scrambling from the S/V Windrush as water rushed into the 25-foot sailboat. The family reached shore near Gloomy Knob shortly before midnight, soaked and without time to put on life jackets. They built a driftwood fire and remained on the beach until Glacier Bay National Park rangers arrived at about 6:30 a.m. the next morning.
Lewis, a longtime wildlife biologist at Glacier Bay National Park, was vacationing with her family when the accident occurred. Earlier that day, they had hiked near Reid Glacier before anchoring in a cove near Gloomy Knob for the night. They had seen a humpback whale feeding nearby earlier in the evening, but Lewis said it appeared to have left the area before the family settled in for the night.
At about 11:30 p.m., Lewis and her husband were asleep while Lu was awake reading near the bow. Lu recalled hearing a sudden, powerful crash that pushed the vessel. Water immediately began entering the cabin beneath the area where Lewis and her husband had been sleeping. Eric checked the bilge pump while Tania Lewis grabbed two sleeping bags and a radio bag as the water rapidly rose inside the boat.
The family tried to escape using a dinghy tied alongside the sailboat, but one of its lines had broken and the smaller vessel had overturned. Eric righted the dinghy, allowing Tania and Lu to climb aboard, but it began taking on water while still connected to the sinking sailboat. Eric eventually freed it as the Windrush disappeared beneath him. Tania and Lu later estimated that only about three minutes passed between the initial impact and the boat sinking.
The trip to shore was also difficult. The partly flooded dinghy was unstable, and Eric initially tried to swim while pulling it. Lu eventually began swimming toward the beach while carrying the family’s phone and a backpack containing some of their emergency supplies. The shore was roughly 130 yards away, according to Alaska’s News Source. All three reached land at about the same time.
The family was barefoot and wearing wet, light clothing when they arrived on the beach. Lewis found an emergency blanket, lighters and other supplies in a bag she routinely carried. She used paper from a book to help start a fire with dry driftwood. Lewis later said Eric was shivering uncontrollably for a time, while Lu was also cold. The fire allowed them to warm themselves as Lewis tried to contact rescuers.
Lewis made mayday calls on personal and Park Service radios but initially received no response. She later rowed farther from the cove and reached an emergency dispatcher through a radio repeater. At about 3 a.m., the National Geographic Quest, a small cruise ship, appeared in the area. Lewis contacted the vessel’s captain, who used a satellite phone to help confirm the family’s location with park officials. Because the family had warmed up and no longer believed they faced an immediate life-threatening emergency, they waited for park rangers rather than seeking a helicopter evacuation.
Rangers reached the family about seven hours after the collision. The cause of the sinking was not immediately certain, but the family suspected a whale because of the force of the impact and humpbacks they had seen in the area. A salvage crew later recovered the Windrush and found a large puncture in the fiberglass hull on its starboard side. Lewis described extensive damage near the keel and said the rudder system also may have been affected.
The strongest evidence of what struck the boat came during the recovery. While clearing debris from the damaged vessel, the family found pieces of thick, dark tissue lodged around the damaged hull. Lewis provided samples to whale biologists, who identified the material as humpback whale skin. Researchers hoped the samples could help determine which whale was involved. Lewis said she did not believe the collision necessarily caused a serious injury to the animal, though its condition was not independently established.
Previous research has documented humpback whales colliding with boats that are anchored or drifting in Alaska waters. A study covering whale-vessel collisions from 1978 through 2011 documented 15 cases involving humpbacks and stationary vessels, including two sailboats that sank. Researchers have suggested that some collisions with quiet boats may be accidental because whales may have difficulty detecting vessels that are not producing much underwater noise.
The family was considering whether the decades-old Windrush could be repaired after the vessel was recovered, while biologists continued examining the whale material collected from the hull. No serious injuries to the three family members were reported, and the identity of the humpback whale involved in the collision had not been publicly confirmed.
Author note: Last updated August 10, 2026.