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A fisherman has spent the night in intensive care after being struck by a whale in a freak accident off the Gold Coast.
Jordan Mainstone was in a tinny with another fisherman when he was hit in the face by the whale's tail about a kilometre from the Tweed Bar yesterday morning.
The father suffered spinal injuries and was rushed to Gold Coast University Hospital, where he remains in a stable condition today.
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Jet Skiers Brady and Adam Bell watched the unbelievable moment unfold.
"It was pure, unlucky, bad timing, the boat came, whale popped up, and it was just yeah, unavoidable," Adam said.
The pair said the incident wouldn't stop them from heading back out into the water.
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"It wouldn't stop me from ever going out there, just because we're in their playground, so to speak," said Brady.
Water police and paramedics jumped into the dinghy with the injured boatie as volunteer rescuers helped guide them back to shore.
"They didn't want to take him off the boat because they thought he had neck injuries," John Murray from Marine Rescue NSW said.
Authorities said it was an extremely rare event, but an important reminder whales are continuing to migrate north.
"I've been doing this for 22 years and I've never heard of a whale actually hitting someone on a stationary boat," Murray said.
"We've had boats come in contact with whales before but not actually a person sitting in a boat."
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