For the second time this week, a whale entangled in rope has been rescued, this time offshore of Clovelly, between Kalk Bay and Fish Hoek.
National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Simon’s Town station commander Darren Zimmerman said NSRI Simon’s Town duty crew were activated after 4pm on Tuesday by the Transnet National Ports Authority following witness reports of a whale entangled in rope between Kalk Bay and Fish Hoek.
The NSRI Simon’s Town sea rescue craft Spirit of Surfski II was launched immediately, carrying South African Whale Disentanglement Network (SAWDN) cutting equipment.
The NSRI Simon’s Town sea rescue craft Spirit of Safmarine III followed later, accompanied by members of SAWDN, and NSRI Kommetjie responded with additional SAWDN cutting equipment stored at the NSRI Kommetjie sea rescue station.
The NSRI Kommetjie sea rescue craft IL Battello was towed to Simon’s Town and launched.
The NSRI Simon’s Town rescue vehicle was dispatched to the Clovelly parking area to assist with crowd control and Cape Town Traffic Services assisted with traffic control at Main Road, Clovelly, where a bottleneck was caused by concerned onlookers. Traffic flow was further hampered by roadworks in the area.
The team found a large southern right whale, 10 to 12 m long, entangled with at least eight wraps of rope around its tail. The whale was active and appeared to be healthy.
“Using the SAWDN cutting gear, we immediately began cutting away at the rope and we were able to cut free all of the wraps of rope, which were recovered.
"The whale swam away, appearing to be healthy, and the disentanglement operation has been successful,” Zimmerman said.
The team investigated other southern right whales in the area at the time. All were swimming freely and no further entanglements were identified.
On Sunday, NSRI crews rescued a 12m southern right whale entangled with rope and a flotation buoy around the tail between Palmiet and Kleinmond.
Earlier this month, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing said people who cut floating buoys from fishing gear, with the intention of removing the gear in which whales and other marine mammals may become entangled, may be doing more harm than good.
The department’s fisheries management branch said it was alerted that some concerned citizens are cutting buoys from fishing gear in False Bay.