Whale carcass towed away from shore
THE CITY’S MARINE ANIMAL STRANDING NETWORK WAS ACTIVATED AS A PRECAUTION
A WHALE carcass has been towed from Kommetjie to Hout Bay by the NSRI
The whale was approximately 18m long and weighed an estimated 40 tons.
Yesterday morning the NSRI Kommetjie and NSRI Hout Bay duty crews were activated following witness reports of a large whale carcass spotted floating 200m offshore of Kommetjie.
On investigation, the NSRI determined it was imminent that the whale carcass would wash ashore at Kommetjie.
The City of Cape Town marine animal stranding network was activated, but as a precautionary measure NSRI Hout Bay launched the deep-sea rescue craft Nadine Gordimer to reach the scene quickly to attach a tow line to keep the whale carcass from washing ashore until a City marine unit could arrive.
The NSRI Kommetjie sea rescue craft Il Battello was also launched to assist with manoeuvrability around the carcass while a towline was attached.
The Nadine Gordimer arrived on the scene and a towline was rigged to the humpback whale carcass and the carcass was towed further out to sea.
The marine unit arrived on the scene in their inflatable boat, which was not sufficient to tow the whale carcass. The NSRI Hout Bay deep-sea rescue craft continued to tow the whale carcass to Hout Bay harbour where the City Cleansing Department could recover the carcass for disposal. – Staff Reporter