Third dead whale washes up on KZN coast
A DEAD humpback whale has washed up on the beach at Widenham on the South Coast.
The whale, which has been described as a sub-adult and is about 6m long, washed up on the beach on Monday.
This is the third whale that has washed up on the KZN coastline in the past two weeks – two other carcasses were reported, in Mtunzini and Dokodweni, earlier this month.
Last month, Coastwatch KZN, a marine conservation NGO, had raised concerns about seismic surveys being done off the coast of KZN for oil and gas exploration during the annual whale migratory season. Mike Anderson-Reade of the Sharks Board said it was not uncommon for whale carcasses to wash up during the migratory season, when the whales arrived on the KZN coast to mate and calve before returning to the waters of Antartica.
He said that in a “bad year”, four to five whales could wash up on shore and the whale could have died for any of a number of reasons, including disease.
Anderson-Reade said the whale population was doing “extremely well” and was growing by between 9% and 10% a year.
He added that it was a difficult process to remove a whale carcass and the eThekwini Municipality would have to decide on the best option.
“It can be cut up and carted away to be disposed of, or buried on the beach, depending on the accessibility. But it’s not a simple process.”
Olivia Symcox, a member of Shark Angel, a shark conservation group, said local residents were opposed to burial of the carcass on the beach as it could attract sharks to the area.
Coastwatch’s marine biologist, Karin Loukes, said it would be hard to say if any of the deaths could be linked to seismic surveys.