A whale carcass towed, and an activation for kite-boarders adrift in Mykonos

Mike Shaw, NSRI Mykonos station commander, said:

At 08h48, Saturday, 29 August, NSRI Mykonos duty crew were activated to assist the Marine Animal Stranding Network and Saldanha Bay Municipality (SBM) to tow an adult Southern Right whale carcass from the Saldanha Bay Port iron ore jetty to a beach near to Dial Rock.

The whale appears to have suffered a ship strike.

The sea rescue craft Spirit of Surfski 5 was launched and on arrival on the scene a towline was rigged to the whale carcass from our sea rescue craft.

NSRI towed the whale carcass to a beach near to Dial Rock where efforts to remove the carcass from the beach are underway by SBM solid waste management.

An attempt to tow the whale out to sea later on Saturday was suspended and the carcass will be removed from the land side by SBM solid waste management.

Samples of the whale carcass will be collected by the Department of Environment.

At 15h13 our duty crew were activated following reports of a kite surfer adrift off-shore of Calypso Beach, Langebaan.

Our duty crew prepared to launch a sea rescue craft when it was confirmed that the kite surfer was safely ashore and required no assistance.

At 15h43 our duty crew were activated following reports of a kite surfer adrift on Langebaan Lagoon.

Prior to launching our sea rescue craft that kite surfer was reported to be safe ashore and no assistance was required.

-ENDS-

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) is the charity organisation that saves lives on South African waters – both coastal and inland. Our goal is to prevent drowning through rescue operations, education and prevention initiatives.

Operating from base stations along the SA coastline, and on inland dams, our rescue volunteers are on call, at all hours, every day of the year. Our rescue crew receives no payment and neither do we charge the people we rescue.

We visit schools around the country, teaching children about water safety. Our drowning prevention measures include our online training academy, with free courses for crew and the public, emergency signage, Pink Rescue Buoys for emergency flotation, rescue swimmers, lifeguards, and active patrols during peak seasons.

Our organisation is totally reliant on donations and sponsorships. This enables us to do the work of saving lives, changing lives, and creating futures.

You can do your bit to assist. Please visit www.nsri.org.za for more information.

SEA RESCUE EMERGENCY: 112 or 087 094 9774