The last of the 20 whales that was stranded on Noordhoek beach has died.
|||Cape Town - The last of the 20 whales that was stranded on Noordhoek beach on Sunday has died.
The whale which had been pushed back into the sea when rescue operations began, was found lying dead in the sand on Noordhoek beach on Monday morning.
Residents and rescue teams had scrambled to save the beached animals, but not a single one survived.
The city said nine of the whales were put down on the scene, while five others died of natural causes.
The five “healthier” whales that were transported on trailers, tailgated by a crowd of hopeful volunteers, were released off the coast of Simon’s Town.
But these whales were later found beached and injured along the shores of False Bay and were subsequently put down.
Some residents and conservation groups have lashed out at the city saying authorities dragged their heels and were ill-equipped to deal with the mass stranding – with the first whale transported to Simon’s Town almost eight hours after it beached.
Gregg Oelofse, head of environmental policy and strategy for the city, said he found the allegations “absolutely astounding”.
“We had 130 people from various agencies, five front-end loaders, seven flatbed trucks.
“All the equipment was city equipment.”
He said the reason the machinery took so long to reach the isolated beach was because it was stored in Maitland and most of the heavy vehicles travelled slowly.
Civilian volunteers questioned the city’s decision to shoot the animals but the city said in an official statement that the operation took place in accordance with an approved large-mammal stranding policy.
The policy was adopted after the mass stranding in Kommetjie in 2009, where there were 55 beached whales of which 42 were shot dead.
kieran.legg@inl.co.za
Cape Argus