|
|
|
Rare beaked whale dies at Morgan Bay
By LUNGA MTSHIZANA
THESE pictures capture a dramatic rescue attempt as holiday-makers at Morgan Bay struggled for almost two hours to save a rare beaked whale that beached itself at the holiday resort on Sunday evening.
The stranded whale is estimated to weigh five tons and is about six metres long.
“One of my hotel guests came in about 5.30pm to tell me that there was a dolphin or a whale stranded on the beach,” said Morgan Bay Hotel owner Richard Warren-Smith.
Warren-Smith said he rallied a few hotel guests in an attempt to push the whale back into the water because it was stuck on shallow sand.
But the whale was lying sideways and the waves pushed it further onto the rocks. It was bleeding profusely.
The would-be rescuers struggled with the thrashing animal, but on their third attempt to push it back into the sea, it died.
Buffalo City Municipality (BCM) amenities manager Willie Maritz, former chief of marine services at the East London Aquarium, yesterday said beaked whales were deep water creatures and were rarely found in such shallow waters.
“That’s why we know so little about them,” he said. “In the 18 years I’ve been involved in this line of work, this is the first time I’ve seen a beaked whale.”
But Maritz added that the chances of the whale’s survival, even if rescuers were successful in pushing it back into the ocean, were small.
“It is almost impossible to save a dolphin or any animal of this nature that has been stranded,” Maritz explained. “Whales do not get stranded for no reason. This happens because they are in distress. It may be because of old age or because it is sick.”
People from Port Elizabeth’s museum would arrive today to examine the whale, he said, adding that whales with teeth, liked the beaked whale, belong to the dolphin family.
“Beaked whales can dive up to 2km deep,” he said.
Chiel Letters to the Editor Leader Page Today's Columns Features Motoring Farming Arts & Entertainment Television Radio Weather Tides Tenders Aircraft |
