Whale carcass removed from Glentana
After a call from Mossel Bay Port Control on Saturday, 31 March to the Stranded Marine Animal Rescue Team (S.M.A.R.T.) about a whale carcass floating near the Orca PetroSA platform about three sea miles from the coast, a decision was made to try to tow the carcass further out to sea. The main reason for this decision is that there is a huge financial impact when a whale carcass has to be removed from the beach.
The NSRI Station 15 crew was alerted and at 13:00 the Brede rescue craft left Mossel Bay harbour to attempt the tow.
The carcass was found drifting towards Hartenbos in a westerly current. A strap was attached to its fluke and the whale was towed about 7.5 sea miles.
Port control also alerted all vessels in the area to keep a watchful eye as a carcass of this size can do much damage.
At 12:11 on Sunday, 1 April S.M.A.R.T. was once again alerted that the 12 metre whale stranded at Glentana beach.
Mossel Bay municipal manager Adv Thys Giliomee and Councillor Anton Dellemijn were on the beach to assess the situation.
Dr Enrico Gennari (Oceans Research) flew his drone to gauge the situation and many sharks were spotted in the shallow water.
A blubber and oil slick from the animal was already forming and the decision was made to close the beach until further notice. Traffic officers were dispatched to help with crowd control along with the many S.M.A.R.T. volunteers. The volunteers also kept the large crowd well informed about the species and provided other interesting facts.
Data sampling took place on Monday, 2 April by the Oceans Research team.
Bryde's whales, pronounced “broo-dess”, are quite common in South African waters and can be seen all year round. They are named after a Norwegian consul to South Africa, Johan Bryde. They are divided into an inshore and an offshore form. This particular one was an inshore whale. There are a few differences between them.
They are baleen whales - filter feeders - and feed mainly on small pelagic shoaling fish such as sardine, anchovy and maasbanker and unlike most other whale species, they feed throughout the year. They have a small sickle-shaped dorsal fin. The tail is broad and centrally notched and their flippers are small and slender.
They can reach 13 to 14 metres in length and could weigh up to twenty tons. They are not as playful as the humpbacks and have earned the reputation of “now you see me, now you don’t” as they tend to take one to six short dives of about a minute each. They are fast and can reach a speed of 19 to 24 km/hour.
The main threat to Bryde’s whales in Southern Africa are being struck by a ship. The possible reason of death of the Glentana whale, is entanglement.
The carcass was removed from the beach on Wednesday by a contractor after a tender process arranged by the Mossel Bay Municipality. The whale was buried at the PetroSA landfill site in a demarcated area. The beach will stay closed until further notice.