Cape Town - False Bay swimming beaches remained closed on Wednesday as sharks were spotted patrolling the shoreline in the wake of a rotting whale carcass.
As at 4pm on Wednesday, five sharks had been seen at Muizenberg, seven at St James and four at Fish Hoek. Some sightings were only brief, lasting one to two minutes, but one shark remained at St James for more than 90 minutes, while another remained at Fish Hoek for about 40 minutes, the Shark Spotters reported.
On the Cape Peninsula’s Atlantic coastline on Wednesday, another giant shark, a docile whale shark, was spotted beaching itself between Llandudno and Sandy Bay.
The whale carcass first washed up on Danger Beach, at St James, at around 8am on Tuesday.
But even after a marathon effort to remove it - by the City of Cape Town, South African Navy divers and a private charter boat - chunks of whale flesh and oil and blubber continued to attract the predatory fish close to Muizenberg Corner on Wednesday.
As a result, at the time of going to press last night, the beaches remained closed.
Alison Kock, of Shark Spotters, said the City’s Solid Waste Management and Environmental Resource Department, together with the National Sea Rescue Institute, realised that the whale carcass could not be removed by land as there was no access for suitable vehicles.
“The whale carcass posed a health and safety issue,” she said.
“Large amounts of whale oil and pieces of the whale were drifting along the inshore, and were likely to attract sharks.
“The city and Shark Spotters closed Danger Beach and issued a shark alert for the neighbouring beaches.”
The navy’s boat developed engine trouble.
Dive charter company Shark Explorers agreed to retrieve the carcass and tow it to the closest accessible shore point, which was Fish Hoek Beach, for removal.
It was eventually removed late on Wednesday.
Cape Argus