As Sharks Swarm, 'Idiot' Surfs Whale Carcass

Harrison Williams says 'mum thinks I’m an idiot, dad’s not too proud'
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 2, 2014 8:10 AM CST

As these things so often begin, Harrison Williams was "out on the boat with the boys and one of my mates said it would be pretty funny" to pull a questionable, potentially life-ending stunt, "so I did it." The stunt in question involved swimming out to the giant carcass of a humpback whale yesterday afternoon, climbing on, and "surfing" it—only to then notice the sharks swarming, their prey in sight, reports news.com.au. Lucky for Williams, he says the sharks, which included a Great White, "were too busy chomping on the whale so it wasn’t too bad." Interestingly, he tells the Daily Mail his motives were pure: "Basically the whale looked in distress and I tried to help it. But clearly I was too late." The creature, it's perhaps worth noting, was missing a giant hole in its side.

Williams was unharmed and won't be fined, but lest anyone else get any ideas about becoming a YouTube sensation, a whale expert says, "No one’s been daft enough to do it before, and hopefully they won’t again." Williams is getting similar reaction from the Mail, which labels him "Moby THICK," and calls the stunt "stupefying." But Williams says he's seen the error of his actions. "I’ve done it, I don’t need to do it again," he says, as per Sky News. "Definitely it was a stupid act, didn’t mean to disrespect anyone, mum thinks I’m an idiot, dad’s not too proud either." (More whale carcass stories.)

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