On Friday, 28 June, the SA Whale Disentanglement Network (SAWDN) was alerted to a whale appearing to be in distress, entangled in what appeared to be a fishing line, off-shore in the Walker Bay area, Hermanus.
The local whale charter vessel Miroscha reported that they were monitoring the whale from a safe distance.
The whale was entangled in what appeared to be fishing line around the tail. Miroscha remained on the scene maintaining a visual and maintaining the coordinates of the whales location.
The NSRI Hermanus rescue craft Rescue 17 Alpha LEONARD SMITH was launched at 09h37, accompanied by trained SAWDN NSRI crew, carrying the SAWDN specialised cutting equipment.
On arrival on the scene the skipper and crew of Miroscha were thanked for their vigilance and they continued on their voyage.
We found the juvenile Southern Right whale, 8 to 9 meters in length, with a large amount of tuna monofilament long line entangled around it's tail, flukes and caudal peduncle - it was evident that line had embedded into the flesh and the cutting free of the line was urgent.
It is unclear, at present, if the tuna monofilament long line is local or foreign. This will be investigated in cooperation the Department of Environment.
Cautiously approaching the whale, in a number of efforts to cut the fishing long line off the tail, the flukes and the caudal peduncle, we managed, using the specialised cutting equipment, to get a majority of the line cut free.
The line had embedded into the whale, indicating it has most likely had the entanglement for quite some time, but because of the complexity of cutting the line free, unfortunately there was considerable damage sustained to our SAWDN specialised cutting equipment.
However, once the whale appeared to have greater manoeuvrability, having been freed of a large section of the tuna monofilament long line, the whale dived beneath the surface and was not seen again, despite our searching the area hoping that the whale resurfaced.
Later in the day the local whale charter vessel Umnati reported coming across what appeared to be the same whale, in the same vicinity.
The skipper and crew of Umnati were thanked.
Our NSRI Hermanus duty crew launched the NSRI rescue craft Rescue 17 Alpha LEONARD SMITH and on reaching the area we found the whale (the same whale) moving along more freely but still with tuna monofilament long line coiled around the tail, the flukes and the caudal peduncle - and some of the line still embedded.
We again set to work, using the SAWDN specialised cutting equipment - cautiously cutting free the long line, and we estimate we cut free at least 90% of the remaining line.
It appeared that the, more or less 10%, of the line left behind had loosened considerably, but again the whale dived under water and was not seen again on Friday.
All of the line that was cut free, on both occasions, was recovered for disposal.
Over the weekend NSRI Hermanus, the local NSRI coast watcher and whale coast watcher group, kept a lookout for the whale.
On Sunday, 30 June, a whale was spotted off-shore of Sandbaai, it was suspect this to be the same whale and the local coast watcher group reported the whale to be moving freely and appeared to have some line still entangled around the tail.
On Tuesday, 2 July, coast watchers again spotted what we believed to be the same whale off-shore of Walker Bay, moving in the direction of Gansbaai.
The NSRI rescue craft Rescue 17 Alpha LEONARD SMITH was launched.
We caught up with the whale off-shore of Danger Point and confirmed this to be the same whale. However sea conditions, with heavy sea swells, were not conducive to attempting to get the last bit of line cut free off the whale.
A SAWDN craft was also launched to join NSRI on the scene but it was decided for all resources to stand-down due to the unfavourable sea conditions.
Mike Meyer, of SAWDN, said, "The line left behind however does appear to be loose and the whale is moving freely.
We are continuing to monitor to see if the opportunity arises to get the last bit of line off the whale.
If the same whale gets spotted a determination will be made if any further assistance is required," said Mike.
NSRI and SAWDN commend the local coast watcher community and the whale watching boats for their vigilance and for their assistance.
The South African Whale Disentanglement Network (SAWDN) was established in 2006 in order to manage entangled whales using specialised equipment and is comprised of trained volunteers from the - National Sea Rescue Institute, KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board, Telkom Maritime Radio Services, Centre for Sustainable Oceans at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Nature, Mammal Research Institute, South African National Parks, South African Police Service, Department of Environment Forestry and Fisheries, Cape Nature, Bayworld, various Boat Based Whale Watching and Shark Cage Diving Operators, the Rock Lobster Industry and the Octopus Industry and fully supported by the Dolphin Action and Protection Group.
SAWDN COVERS THE ENTIRE SA COASTLINE
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