WHALE WHAT DO WE DO NOW?

It turns out disposing of the whale calf which died this past Tuesday, 21st August, in the shorebreak off Pipeline Beach was actually a bit of a hack. Literally. Just take a look at the images above and below, catch my drift? eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Mandla Nsele issued the following statement: “The city is aware of the whale that beached.  The whale was secured and confined by officials from the relevant City Departments and Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife. It was dead by the time we were notified. A rope has been secured around the carcass and the staff are waiting for the tide to go down before the whale will be cut up and disposed of according to protocol,” Nsele said. When questioned on the status quo of dealing with a beached whale, Cllr Andre Beetge had the following to say “We are faced with a situation where a humpback whale calf of about two-years-old and weighing between six and seven tonnes, beached and died from unknown causes”.  For obvious reasons, the whale cannot be left to decompose naturally and as there are no resources to tow it out to sea, parks officials have recommended and the municipality has requested authorisation for the following […]