Cape Town - Rescue teams can only sit and wait to see if Saturday’s rescue of a beached whale at St Helena Bay has been a lasting success.
The mammal is believed to be a True’s beaked whale, a species that has often become stranded on the beach, just north of Saldanha Bay. It also tends to re-beach moments after being pushed out to sea.
National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Mykonos station commander Gerard Brune said the team launched a rescue craft at about 11am on Saturday after they received reports a whale had beached.
“Five attempts were made to coax, push and encourage the whale out to sea. After each attempt, despite getting the whale into deeper water – a good 10m from shore – it turned around and re-beached.”
The difficult rescue became harder when the whale got caught between the harbour and quay, and efforts had to be made to change the animal’s course and direct it back out to sea.
After five hours of unsuccessful attempts, the whale finally took the hint, diving underwater and manoeuvring past the rocks into deeper water.
Brune said they continued to monitor the area for an hour, but the whale did not reappear.
Mike Meyer, a scientist at the Department of Environmental Affairs’ Oceans and Coasts, said he was worried about the animal.
“I don’t know why it would’ve come ashore, but I do know that if a lone animal becomes beached on the shore, often there is a problem.” This could range from a parasite infestation to critical injuries. It could, however, just be lost.
“From the pictures I saw a lot of wounds from the rocks… There’s always the risk of infection.
“I think there’s always a chance that it could come back up to shore.
“In the past we have seen it often, but at the same time we do get successes. I’m not saying it’s impossible or even unlikely that he will stay out there.”
The NSRI said they would continue to monitor the area, but at the time of going to print the whale had not yet reappeared. - Cape Argus