Young humpback whale identified after washing ashore in Simon’s Town
A young humpback whale that washed up on Long Beach in Simon’s Town has been identified as a young female that was first seen near Dyer Island off the coast of Gansbaai in June this year, according to Happywhale.
Happywhale is a global citizen science project that engages citizen scientists in identifying individual marine mammals by submitting photographs of whales.
The City’s coastal management branch and SANParks cordoned off the beach in preparation for the removal of the carcass as Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) officials collected DNA samples.
The Happywhale data manager for Sub-Saharan Africa and Western Indian Ocean Islands, Alex Vogel, said Monday had been a sad and exciting day for whale watchers and researchers in Cape Town.
He said an initial check through Happywhale to identify the carcass had not produced a match, but some distinctive killer whale rake marks on the right side of the fluke had rung some bells and he had decided to dig deeper by manually checking some of the recent regional additions to the database.
He said thanks to additional images of the carcass supplied by Chris Wilkinson, of the UP Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit, and far south resident Liezel Smit Genis, he was able to identify the whale.
“I was initially quite shocked to find the match. I was hoping that it was an unknown animal. Not knowing the animal doesn't make the event less sad, it just adds a little layer of anonymity that allows for easier processing of such a sad event,” he said.
He said the whale had first been seen by Sandra Hörbst, of Dyer Island Cruises, on June 30 this year.
During the past four months, there had been intense humpback whale feeding activity both in western False Bay and in Walker Bay in the Hermanus area, he said.
“We can only assume that she was trying to join in the feasting. Unfortunately, her success seems to have been limited as her poor body condition and the extensive presence of whale lice would suggest that her health had been deteriorating for some time due to a previous injury or illness. We will probably never know.”
Ms Genis, who was at the scene before the area was cordoned off, said the removal had taken more than three hours.
The carcass had been pulled from the water with a bulldozer and loaded onto a large flatbed truck, she said, adding that it had been heartbreaking to watch.
The City’s coastal manager, Gregg Oelofse, said the whale carcasses had been taken to a landfill site in Vissershok.
The DFFE officials had worn plastic overalls, he added, as whale blubber smelled awful and once on your clothes it was very hard to get out.
