Beached Whale killed with Explosives
Experts said 11-Tonne Animal Would have Died Slow Otherwise
Marine biologists used explosives to kill an 11-tonne southern right Whale beached helplessly on a South African coast ,after several attempts to move it failed .Mike Meyer of Marine and Coastal Management told the SAPA news agency that the two-year-old whale had become stranded in shallow water at Mnandi Beach on Cape Town False Bay coast after an apparent navigational error .In this case ,the animal made a mistake…it wasn’t a sick animal ,it went too close to shore and caught out.he said.
Marine and Coastal Management officials made the decision to euthanise the animal, which they said could not be saved .Carol Esmosas ,spokeman for South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism said the use of explosives was recommended for such cases by the International Whaling Commission She said the other options—the use of a huge rifle or injections of drugs—were considered riskier and more painful for the animal.
The marine biologists decided to kill the whale on Wednesday at Mnandi beach along False Bay after numerous attempts to refloat it failed .
Meyer said the explosive charge did not blow the whale to smithereens but imploded the skull.
He said the whale about two years old and 10 metres long ,had beached in a shallow area. During the breeding season, whales are commonly seen along the coast.
Meyer said after ship could not get closer enough to shore to try to help move the whales ,ropes were tied around the whale and manpower used in an attempt to move the behemoth.
By Wednesday ,the whale was so firmly embedded with about a third of its girth in sand that scientists could not even tell its sex.
Nan Rice, of the Dolphin Action and Protection Group said she was fed up with all the calls I get to complain about killing the whale. There is no way anyone could have got the whale back into the sea Using explosives is an internationally recognized humane way of killing stranded animals. You cant leave the thing baking in the sun for days ,dying slowly.