Man dies after possible whale collision capsizes boat in Botany Bay

A 61-year-old man is dead and another has been taken to hospital after a whale reportedly struck their boat, flinging the pair into Botany Bay in Sydney’s east on Saturday morning.

Emergency services responded to reports two people were in the water after passengers in a nearby vessel noticed an empty boat circling the bay near Cape Banks at La Perouse about 6am.

“Early reports are that a whale may have breached near the boat, or onto the boat,” NSW Police acting Superintendent Siobhan Munro said on Saturday.

Police said in a statement the likely collision had caused the boat to tilt, ejecting both men.

The 61-year-old man was pulled from the water unconscious and could not be revived.

A second man, 53, was treated by paramedics and taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Munro said passengers on board a passing boat noticed the pair’s 4.8-metre motorboat circling in the water without anyone on board. They alerted emergency services and tried to help the pair.

She said the man who survived the incident was in shock when police arrived to pluck the men from the water. They had likely been in the water for up to 45 minutes before they were rescued.