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Beached whale dies
24/10/2005 11:29 - (SA)
Port Elizabeth - A 17m long sperm whale which beached off Ngqura harbour in Algoa Bay, Eastern Cape, at the weekend has died, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said on Monday.
Earlier on Monday, Ian Gray, the NSRI's spokesperson in Port Elizabeth, said the whale, which beached 100m west of the harbour, was expected to die "within the next two hours".
"The whale is barely alive and isn't expected to live much longer. Half (of the whale) is buried into the sand.
"It's battling to breathe and it's very, very weak. There is no chance of it being saved any much longer," he said at the time.
About two hours later, Gray said: "The report we got is that the whale has died."
Attempts to coax whale back out to sea unsuccessful
On Sunday, Gray said the NSRI received a call just after 17:00 about a whale beaching near Ngqura beach, near Port Elizabeth.
"We dispatched crew to the scene to investigate and found an approximately 17m sperm whale about 30m offshore, 100m west of Ngqura harbour in approximately one to 1.5m depth," he said.
"The whale appeared to be in distress and was gradually being washed ashore."
The NSRI launched a deep-sea rescue craft and experts from Bay World and Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) were called in to assist.
Lifeguards, metro ambulance and rescue services and the police were also notified of the rescue attempt. A tug boat was called in from Ngqura harbour.
"Attempts to coax the whale back out to sea were unsuccessful and MCM gave permission for us to attempt to rig a harness to pull the whale out to sea head first, but efforts failed," Gray said.
"Our rescue craft Spirit of Toft stood by on-scene just behind the breakline and 10 NSRI volunteer crew and three SA Lifesaving lifeguards were deployed into the surf to stabilise the whale during our attempts to rig the harness."
The effort had to be abandoned though when light faded and the tide became too low, he said.
- SAPA
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