The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) and SA Whale Disentanglement Network (SAWDN) recently came to the aid of an entangled whale.
NSRI Yzerfontein launched the sea rescue craft Rescue 34 in support of SAWDN volunteers, following eye-witness reports of a whale entangled in fishing rope lines in the vicinity south of Dassen Island on the West Coast. Andre Livingstone-Louw, SAWDN coordinator, says: “At 08:15, Tuesday 1 February, NSRI Yzerfontein duty crew and SAWDN volunteers were activated. NSRI Yzerfontein launched the sea rescue craft Rescue 34, accompanied by SAWDN volunteers, following eye-witness reports of a whale entangled in fishing rope lines in the vicinity south of Dassen Island.
“On arrival on the scene an 8 metre juvenile Humpback whale was found appearing to have an entanglement around the caudal peduncle. With the whale not lifting its tail concerns were that the rope wraps, anchored to the seabed, may also be around the tail but poor water visibility prevented a thorough assessment. A flotation buoy was found attached to the fishing rope wraps.
The whale was hardly surfacing and we attached a grappling iron which was used to hook the fishing line below the buoy to manoeuvre the NSRI rescue craft closer to the whale,” he explains.
A kegging buoy was placed on the fishing trailing the buoy in an effort to prevent the whale from diving below and away from the specialised cutting equipment. After pulling the whale’s tail to the surface the team managed to recover the entangling lines once cut.
During the operation a second whale was surfacing. Luckily this whale was not entangled.
During the operation NSRI Yzerfontein was also activated to evacuate fisherman from a fishing vessel. The fisherman was ill.
“We diverted from the whale operation and carried out that patient operation with success, bringing the fisherman to shore in a stable condition without incident. We returned to the whale and on our arrival on the scene we found the grappling hook and kegging buoy had disappeared and hopes were raised that the whale had been freed. But on closer inspection we found the whale remained trapped on the fishing line anchored to the seabed,” he explains.
The team managed to make two cuts to two lines and the second cut freed the whale from the entrapment and the fishing rope fell away and was able to be recovered. The whale swam away free of the fishing rope and appeared to be strong and healthy.
The next day at 07:35, Wednesday 2 February, NSRI Yzerfontein duty crew and SAWDN volunteers were activated following reports of two whales entangled in fishing rope approximately three nautical miles apart from each other in the vicinity south of Dassen Island.
“On arrival on the scene following an extensive search only one whale, a 9,5 metre juvenile Humpback, was located. The entanglement was seen to be wrapping around the body and through the mouth.”
The whale was diving and taking the gear down for 2-5 minutes at a time and the animal had to be located again. It was anchored to the bottom but had a long line attached giving the whale a large area to move but not free swimming but locked to the bottom by one trap, a long rope and a buoy.
The rope seemed to be wrapped twice around the body behind the dorsal fin with one wrap through the mouth and over the bonnet. There was a long line trailing behind the whale.
