Whale freed from ropes
A YOUNG humpback whale that had become entangled in ropes from octopus traps off Cape Point has been freed.
This is the third whale to be caught in octopus traps in False Bay.
Last October a whale caught in these ropes in Plettenberg Bay died.
Mike Meyer, of the Department of Environment Affairs, who heads the SA Whale Disentanglement Network, said in a statement yesterday that the whale freed off Cape Point on Tuesday had “swum away strongly” after being cut to freedom.
The network had been contacted after the 9m whale was spotted off the Cape Point lighthouse on Tuesday. When the team arrived in two NSRI rescue craft, they found it had become tangled up in four ropes which appeared to be anchored to traps on the seabed.
Using specialised equipment the teams cut one of the ropes, which allowed the animal to breathe more easily.
The other three were tricky because they were beyond the reach of the cutting equipment. The team then tied a flotation buoy to the ropes around the whale’s tail, in the hopes that it would lift the tail closer to the surface, bringing up the other three ropes. But because of the weight and thickness of the ropes, this was not successful.
Then a local fishing vessel, Puffin, which operates similar fishing traps, came to help.
Meyer said the fishing boat crew used heavy lifting equipment on board to lift the ropes attached to the traps, which in turn gently lifted the whale to the sea surface. This allowed the team to cut the remaining ropes and set the animal free.
“The whale appeared healthy and swam away strongly and we are confident that this operation has been a huge success,” Meyer said.
Nan Rice, head of the Dolphin Action and Protection Group and a founder member of the SA Whale Entanglement Network, said yesterday she was very concerned about the octopus traps catching whales. She had been told provision had been made for 6 000 of these traps in False Bay.
“We will have to sit down and talk about this. There are going to be more entanglements because there are more whales around, especially humpbacks, which breed every second year. The traps are apparently imported from Australia and are strung on a very thick, heavy rope,” Rice said.
A southern right whale that was caught in octopus trap ropes off St James about two years ago had been successfully freed, as was another one entangled off Sunny Cove about a month ago, she said.
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) reports that whale entanglement globally is a growing problem and estimates about 308 000 whales and dolphins are killed by fishing gear every year, or by becoming entangled in rubbish.
“Entanglement can lead to drowning, laceration, infection and starvation. It also presents serious safety issues for those involved in disentangling the whales.”