‘It’s like putting a whale in a blender’: the rise of deadly ship collisions in Chile

A whale tagged by researchers in Chile's Chañaral de Aceituno. Photograph: Francis Pérez/The Guardian

The memory of a blue whale gliding past his small boat haunts Patricio Ortiz. A deep wound disfigured the cetacean’s giant body – a big chunk had been ripped from its dorsal fin. Cargo ships are the only adversary capable of inflicting such harm on a blue whale, he says.

“Nothing can be done when they’re up against those floating monsters.”