The carcass of an 8m Humpback whale has washed ashore in Sea Point, the City of Cape Town confirmed on Thursday.
City officials will try to move the carcass off the rocks to a nearby slipway before taking it to a landfill. “Our job is to get it off the rocks,” said city coastal manager Gregg Oelofse.
“If we can’t pull it off, we have a problem and we will have to rethink,” Oelofse said, adding that his team may need to wait for the evening high tide to refloat the carcass.
He said the whale, relatively small by Humpback standards, had most likely been part of a “super-pod” of Humpback whales sighted off the Atlantic seaboard in recent days.
The animal most likely died of natural causes, Oelofse said. “There is no evidence of a ship strike. Whenever we have this big aggregation [of whales] we always get one or two carcasses that come ashore. It is a normal part of a big aggregation,” he said.
City officials were being assisted by the police and the National Sea Rescue Institute.
“There is no cause for concern. This is absolutely normal,” added Oelofse.
TimesLIVE
Humpback whale carcass washes ashore in Sea Point
City officials may need help from the high tide
Image: Esa Alexander
The carcass of an 8m Humpback whale has washed ashore in Sea Point, the City of Cape Town confirmed on Thursday.
City officials will try to move the carcass off the rocks to a nearby slipway before taking it to a landfill. “Our job is to get it off the rocks,” said city coastal manager Gregg Oelofse.
“If we can’t pull it off, we have a problem and we will have to rethink,” Oelofse said, adding that his team may need to wait for the evening high tide to refloat the carcass.
He said the whale, relatively small by Humpback standards, had most likely been part of a “super-pod” of Humpback whales sighted off the Atlantic seaboard in recent days.
The animal most likely died of natural causes, Oelofse said. “There is no evidence of a ship strike. Whenever we have this big aggregation [of whales] we always get one or two carcasses that come ashore. It is a normal part of a big aggregation,” he said.
City officials were being assisted by the police and the National Sea Rescue Institute.
“There is no cause for concern. This is absolutely normal,” added Oelofse.
TimesLIVE
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