South African officials kill 35 stranded whales

Yahoo News 30 May 09;

CAPETOWN, South Africa (AFP) – South Africa officials shot dead some 35 whales in a group of 55 stranded on a beach in the south of the country after efforts to save them failed, scientists said Saturday.

The first whales washed up at 7:30 am (0530 GMT) on a beach off the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of the country.

Officials from the South African National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) helped by dozens of volunteers tried to get the whales back into the water and out to sea again, but they could only save around 10 of them.

Ten others died on the shore, and the rest were shot to end their suffering.

"Approximately 35 whales were subject to humane euthanasia by the scientists, while NSRI volunteers, police officers and law enforcement officers monitored public safety," the NSRI said.

"The most humane way to perform euthanasia on whales is to shoot them through the brain, and this was successfully performed on those whales suffering on the beach," the institute said.

"We wish to stress emphatically that the most humane effort was employed to prevent further suffering of these animals."

The marine mammals weigh between four and five tonnes and measure up to 5.5 metres (18 feet).

The institute added that it did not know the reason why the whales washed ashore.

Some volunteers who tried to get the whales back into the sea had to be rescued themselves because they were carried away by strong waves.

"We have tried everything, but they just make a U-turn and keep rebeaching themselves," said Wally Peterson project manager for the Kommetjie Environmental Awareness group.

Dozens of whales perish on South African shore
Clare Nullis, Associated Press Yahoo News 30 May 09;

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Authorities shot dozens of exhausted whales that beached on a shore near South Africa's storm-lashed southern tip Saturday amid scenes of grief and despair from volunteers who had tried to save them.

Fifty-five false killer whales washed up on the shores of Kommitjie, near the Cape of Good Hope, in the early morning, prompting a massive all-day rescue effort. Hundreds of locals wearing wet suits or shorts braved high winds and rough waves to try to push the massive mammals from knee-deep water back into the open sea.

To no avail.

"I feel quite sad, but it is the right thing to do," Nan Rice, head of the Dolphin Action and Protection Group, told the South African Press Association.

"They are huge animals and are stranded over a vast area. Unfortunately they (the volunteers) couldn't do it."

One woman suffered suspected fractured ribs after being pinned between a whale and rocks. A number of volunteers had to be rescued from the surf while trying to swim the whales beyond the breaking waves, according to Ian Klopper of the National Sea Rescue Institute.

Cape Town authorities mobilized the police, fire brigade, navy, lifeboat services, disaster management teams and expert divers as part of the rescue operation. They brought in six bulldozers to try to move the whales, which were about 3 meters (10 feet) long, back to sea. But the whales — part of the dolphin family — kept swimming back to shore and became increasingly stressed.

Plans to transport the whales by road to the nearby deep-water naval base in Simons Town were shelved when it was decided that their health had deteriorated too much.

Scientists then decided there was no alternative but to kill about 35 whales to prevent further suffering. A further 10 died of stress. And it was feared that the whales that did manage to escape were too exhausted to survive, according to Klopper.

"The most humane way to perform euthanasia on whales is to shoot them through the brain and this was successfully performed on those whales suffering on the beach. We wish to stress emphatically that the most humane effort was employed to prevent further suffering of these animals," he said.

Television footage of the scenes on the desolate beach was interspersed by the sound of gunshots. "One shot, one whale. Another shot, another whale," said the commentator.

The bulldozers brought in to push the whales out to sea were used to clear the carcasses from the seaweed-strewn sand.

Police desperately tried to clear the beach of dozens of families who had flocked to the shores in hope of a happy ending which turned nightmarish. There were also minor scuffles between officials and distraught volunteers trying to protect the whales.

Klopper said authorities were urging those who had young children there to seek trauma counseling.

"Despite many theories on why marine animals beach it has not been determined what caused these whales to beach today," he said.

The South African coast is renowned for its whale watching during the winter season, which is in progress. But mass beachings are rare.

(This version CORRECTS type of whale, graf 2.)

Fifty-five whales stranded on South African beach
Reuters 30 May 09;

KOMMETJIE BEACH, South Africa (Reuters) - About 55 whales were stranded on a beach near Cape Town on Saturday and rescue teams had to humanely kill some after failing to return all of them to the ocean, the sea rescue institute said.

Marine scientists and volunteers managed to get more than 20 of the whales back into the water despite bad weather and high waves, local media said, but some 30 remained and were killed by being shot in the head.

Craig Lambinon, spokesman for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), said the number of mammals having to be humanely killed had yet to be confirmed.

"Some of the whales have returned to the sea, so we won't be able to confirm the number of those put down until the operation is completed," Lambinon told Reuters, adding that it was being conducted by Marine and Coastal Management.

Three more whales died earlier in the rescue attempt apart from the 30 left stranded at the end, local media said.

eTV news said the mammals were false killer whales, seen as the larger members of the oceanic dolphin family found in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world.

Rescuers had battled to keep the beached adults and calves wet and also used earth-moving equipment to try to save them, but many of the animals were pushed back ashore by the high waves, Lambinon said.

Lambinon said it was still unclear why the whales had first come ashore at 1:30 a.m. EDT, adding it was the first mass beaching of whales he knew of on the popular coastline.

Whale-watching off South Africa is a popular attraction with tourists, who often line roads at strategic spots to catch a glimpse of the giants of the ocean.

(Reporting by Wendell Roelf and Agnieszka Flak; Editing by Michael Roddy)