Whales beach themselves at kommetjie – not much hope
Beached Pilot whale at Kommetjie
The 47 whales that beached themselves are suspected to be following the matriarch who apparently beached first.
We arrived at 11am to assist in getting the whales back into the water, around 10-15 whales had already been returned to the sea by other volunteers but unfortunately some of the already returned whales were re-beaching themselves further down the beach onto rocks, making rescue nearly impossible. It was freezing with the icy north wester coming in straight off the sea.
Disaster Management were trying to sort logistics out to get some of the smaller whales transported to Simonstown, but I couldnt see how they would get it all together. They needed hoists, trucks with padding to prevent the whales moving around and a way to get them onto the navy ships and back off again into the sea. Even this might create too much stress for the whales to handle though.
Update: 31-05-2009
I definitely think that Disaster Management hadnt a clue on how to handle this situation. Clearly there was no scenario planning on how to deal with this type of event. I felt that was the situation on the beach when attending the discussions on what to do.
I felt horrible to be there and not being able to help these clearly very healthy animals – they were strong, a guy fractured his leg when one of the whales tails connected him. Most of the whales were euthanased (ie shot) even though they were strong. It was evident that MCM / Disaster management didnt know how to deal with this disaster.
They would have been able to make a massive difference if they knew how to source whale slings (very similar to horse equipment), padding, trucks for transport to simons town (if needed) and boats that are able to carry this type of whale. Its all possible it just depends on the preplanning and willingness of the relevant authorities.
The beach
More photos available at: Beached whales
Tags: beached whales
Big up on you for getting out there to help!!