Two whales were freed from fishing lines, ropes, and flotation buoys in the vicinity of Dassen Island, near Yzerfontein, on Tuesday morning, the SA Whale Disentanglement Network (SAWDN) said.
An 11-metre Humpback whale was found swimming freely, with a rope and buoy around his tail, said SAWDN head Mike Meyer.
“The South African Whale Disentanglement Network (SAWDN) were activated following reports from a skipper on a fishing boat of two whales entangled in fishing lines, ropes and floatation buoys in the vicinity of Dassen Island.”
SAWDN volunteers launched aboard the an NSRI sea rescue craft and on arrival on the scene found an 11 meter Humpback Whale swimming freely, 2 nautical miles South of Dassen Island, with one rope and one floatation buoy entangled around the whales tail.
The whale, in good health, moved swiftly through the water diving regularly making efforts for the SAWDN team to cut the rope quite difficult.
The team attempted to slow down the whale to assist him but the whale did not tire out as they had hoped and the decision was taken to get as close to the whale when it surfaced to use the opportunity to cut at the line using their specialised cutting equipment.
“The skipper of the sea rescue craft managed to get up close to the whale and we used the opportunity to get to work cutting at a large portion of the rope which was successfully cut free and the floatation buoy also came loose, the whale swam off confidently and appeared to be healthy.”
The team found the second whale on their return to Dassen Island. The whale was trapped to the ocean floor by a line of rope running to an anchored lobster trap.
“This 8 meter Humpback Whale had rope through its mouth running to its tail and a kegging buoy was attached to the tail section of the rope, which lay deep under water.”
The rope was partially lifted and the specialised cutting equipment was used to first cut the tail line free, which released the whale from the entrapment, and then the remainder of the rope was cut free completely freeing the whale of all rope and buoys.
“We then escorted the whale through the lobster trap lines out into open water and the whale swum off confidently appearing to be healthy.”
Earlier a third had been reported to SAWDN for also being entangled but a loose floatation buoy was found floating out on the ocean in the same vicinity. It is suspected to have come from that whale.
Although the third whale could not be found, the SAWDN believe it may have freed itself but will continue to monitor for any further sightings and react accordingly.
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