Whale of a tale! 40-ton mammal lands on yacht

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  A young Southern Right Whale is seen jumping out of the water between Robben Island and Blouberg, off Cape Town, South Africa, on Sunday. The whale then landed on a yacht belonging to Ralph Mothes and Paloma Werner, breaking the steel mast. The whale swam away and the couple was not injured. (Courtesy of Paloma Werner)
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  Advertisement | ad info "We were watching the whale flipping its tail for about half an hour," said Cape Town Sailing Academy Administrator Paloma Werner, who was enjoying a Sunday sail with her boyfriend and sailing instructor, Ralph Mothes, before the whale breached and landed on their yacht. (Courtesy of Paloma Werner)
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  The whale destroyed the yacht's mast and damaged other parts of the boat as it thrashed about on the deck before going back into the water. The couple reported that the whale left some skin and blubber behind. (Courtesy of Paloma Werner)
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  Werner and Mothes were able to sail the damaged boat back into Table Bay Harbor. (Courtesy of Paloma Werner)
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  The young Southern Right Whale was longer than their 10-meter yacht — most likely between 11 and 14 meters — Werner said.
  "My boyfriend told me to go to the other side of the boat," she said, explaining that they thought it would dive under their vessel.
  "All I heard him say was 'Oh sh*&,' and I saw the whale come out of the water and crash against the mast of the boat.
  "I ducked behind the coach house and my boyfriend ducked behind the steering wheel and we saw the mast crashing toward us and the whale slip back into the water," she said.
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  "Only that evening did we really think about it, and when we saw the photo (a tourist took of the whale breaching) in yesterday's paper did we realize we were lucky to be alive," Werner said. (Courtesy of Paloma Werner)
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clipped from www.bible-prophecy-today.com A British university professor says he has uncovered genetic evidence that a black African tribe living in Zimbabwe and northern South Africa is related to the Jewish people. Leaders of the Lemba tribe have claimed Jewish origins for many centuries. Tribal legend says that seven Jewish males left ancient Israel around 2,500 years ago, making their way to the southern part of the continent. There they met and married local African women, teaching them their biblical religious and dietary practices. The Lemba tribe has many customs and rituals that are quite similar to those practiced by Jews since biblical times He carried out DNA tests on many tribal members and compared the results with similar tests done over the years on thousands of Israeli Jews. He told the BBC that while many people have characterized the Lemba claims of Israeli ancestry as far fetched, scientific evidence has now established that their oral tradition is based on fact.

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clipped from uk.reuters.com * EU focusing on South Africa, 2011 for climate treaty * Climate Commissioner to lay out strategy for 2010 * Leaked paper warns of climate funding shortfall BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - The European Union executive is tempering its hopes of securing a legally binding climate deal in talks this year culminating in Cancun, Mexico, focusing instead on a 2011 summit in South Africa, a source said. "The realistic approach is to aim for deliverables in the Bonn and Cancun meetings this year, and then to aim for a legally binding agreement in South Africa," the European Commission source said on condition of anonymity. EU climate negotiators are struggling to find direction after Copenhagen talks in December ended in a weak accord. Continued...

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