Whales Beech in Cape Town

A great sadness came over Cape Town yesterday as 55 whales beeched themselves at dawn on a beach in the Kommetjie area just outside Cape Town along the peninsula. Included in the lot of beeched whales were many Pregnant whales and calves.

Hundreds of volunteers raced to the region to assist in the rescue mission. Most of the volunteers dressed in Wetsuits as they entered the icy cold water of the Atlantic Ocean to try and encourage the whales to enter the water and swim off.

Many of the volunteers swam a great distance out to sea with some of the whales to ensure they were safe however some of the whales just turned around and beeched themselves again either on the shore or on the rocks.

One of Kommetjie’s Sea Rescue volunteers, Nick Marnitz share his experience of swimming out to sea three times with a calf before he died after beeching once again.  After spending several hours trying to rescue the whales a decision was made to kill the ones that would not and could not be encouraged to return to the ocean. It was a hard decision to make however it was needed as they were dying and the most humane way to kill them would be by shooting them once in the head. In total 41 whales were shot by authorities.Whales in Cape TownWhales Tale

Police closed off the area and they were killed. Many of the volunteers were totally distraught as they stood by helplessly. Many protested but the police kept them at bay.

It is really unknown why whales beech themselves but it is a sure sign that something is wrong. Sadly many Capetonians and visitors to Cape Town felt that the tragic event was not handled in the best way by police and Authorities.