Three of five pilot whales that were released into the sea rebeached during the night and were put down, the NSRI said.
|||Cape Town - Three of five pilot whales that were released into the sea on Sunday afternoon rebeached during the night, the National Sea Rescue Institute said on Monday.
“The City of Cape Town… have reported that during the night three of the five whales… were found beached on Long Beach, Simonstown, at 11:30pm,” NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said in a statement.
At 2:30am on Monday, the three whales were put down after they were found to be in poor health.
“The False Bay coastline is being monitored by the authorities to determine if the remaining two whales may also beach,” he said.
Nineteen pilot whales, mostly adults, beached at Noordhoek Beach in Cape Town on Sunday morning. A twentieth whale had managed to swim back into the surf.
Lambinon, at the time, said five of them were transported to the Simonstown naval base and taken out to sea. One of them had rebeached in Simonstown and was later taken to sea on a tugboat.
Another nine whales were put down on Noordhoek beach, and another five died naturally.
Police, sea rescue and other services helped keep the mammals alive on the beach by using sheets and water. Attempts to refloat them had failed. - Sapa