Sunfish rescued at V&A
THE Two Oceans Aquarium has commended the quick action of the Transnet and Cape Town Port Authority team in saving a large ocean sunfish trapped in shallow waters at the weekend.
On Saturday, the Transnet team noticed the trapped fish and contacted the aquarium.
The water level was still too high to allow access to the sunfish and Transnet had the water drained enough for the rescuers, and then suspended dry-dock operations until the next morning when the rescue would take place.
On Sunday, a rescue team assembled and found the sunfish at the end of the dry dock furthest from the caisson (the gate of the dry dock), where the water was a bit deeper.
They were able to wade out to the sunfish and secure it to a large stretcher for rescue.
Two Oceans Aquarium curator Maryke Musson said: “I must say it was amazing, a huge collaborative effort. Even though it was a small team, these were people who really wanted to assist and save this sunfish.
“It could easily have been a little piece of dried-up sunfish biltong in the dry dock this morning if not for everyone involved. What a happy Sunday.”
The Two Oceans team knew that there would be no way to rescue a sunfish this large without the use of a large crane.
Fortunately, the dry dock team were able to organise a crane operator for the rescue.
The team were able to lift the sunfish out of the dry dock and into the harbour basin in the V&A Waterfront.
Two Oceans Aquarium technical specialist Vince Calder and curator of exhibits Claire Taylor took DNA samples, a small fin clipping and size measurements, and also cleared and sampled the skin parasites living on the ocean sunfish – all of which will contribute to global research about these long-distance ocean wanderers.
Taylor swam along with the sunfish out beyond the swinging bridge at Clocktower to give it the best chance of finding its way out into the open
It could easily have been a little piece of dried up sunfish biltong if not for everyone involved
Maryke Musson
Two Oceans Aquarium curator
ocean again.
It regained much of its strength and appeared to be in near-perfect condition, despite being trapped in shallow waters for some time.
Two Oceans Aquarium will continue monitoring the area to ensure that the sunfish does not become trapped elsewhere in the harbour.
Members of the public are encouraged to contact the aquarium on 021 418 3823 or on any of its social media channels to report sightings of distressed animals in the V&A Waterfront area.