Durban — A young humpback whale was allegedly shot dead after it was stranded near the Ifafa tidal pools on Sunday morning.
Start Rescue spokesperson Warren Brauns said that at 10.45am, their teams were alerted to reports of a whale that had beached near the Ifafa tidal pools.
Brauns said that on arrival, it was soon established that a young whale, a humpback, had been washed over the rocks during the high tide.
“Members of the public had already started keeping the whale wet by placing wet towels and pouring buckets of water over it in an attempt to keep it alive,” Brauns said.
He said Start personnel made contact with local specialists from Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the South African Association for Marine Biological Research who immediately made their way to the area.
“On the arrival of the specialist teams, they promptly assessed the young whale. Sadly, despite the tremendous efforts of the rescue teams, it was found that the young whale's airway had been compromised, and a decision was made to humanely euthanise it,” Brauns said.
Commenting on Facebook, Everything Hibiscus Coast Seconds and Local First - Hibiscus Coast, KZN said a local vet came out and the best decision was for the baby to be euthanised.
“It was not an outcome that anyone wanted but the baby was already seizing and getting her back in the water would not have helped.”
Scheepers Chantel said the whale’s mom was still hanging around and the baby was shot.
“The mom is still hanging around. And the baby was shot. In that case, in my opinion, it would have been best to just put (the) baby back in the bay (we had the van, tractor and conveyer belt) to do that. Then it could have passed on with his mom and she could also get closure. Professional or not, there are ethics and compassion in life.”
Colleen Worthington de Klerk said they were all at the beach. About 90 people were ready to help.
“We were told to wait for authorities to come. By the time they arrived, it was too late to help. So sad. It was devastating. Authorities shouted at everyone to leave the beach. Hardly off the beach when we heard 3 shots. Kids were all in tears....”
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