A young Bryde’s whale has been freed after it was entangled in rope and a floatation buoy off-shore of Hangklip in the Western Cape.
On Friday morning‚ eye-witnesses‚ who saw a number of whales staying in one area about a kilometre from the Hangklip Hotel and a floatation buoy in among them‚ contacted the NSRI‚ said SA Whale Disentanglement Network (SAWDN) spokesperson Craig Lambinon.
SAWDN volunteers from Hermanus boarded two NSRI Hermanus sea rescue craft and rushed to the area. There they found a Bryde’s whale calf with a rope wrapped around its tail and through its mouth.
While the SAWDN crew began cutting at the rope an adult whale‚ possibly the entangled whale’s mother‚ remained close by.
The whale was cut free, and a buoy was recovered.
“Swimming freely the whale joined its mom and they both swam off‚” said Lambinon.
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