In a desperate attempt to save a stranded humpback whale, East London museum principal scientist Kevin Cole and his team are struggling to keep the 9.5m long mammal alive and trauma-free near Hickman’s River.
Cole said the sub-adult whale weighed a good couple of tons and had been stranded in a tidal zone for a few hours.
“We’re trying our best to keep it wet and make sure there’s no further trauma, but every hour spent on the beach is a huge strain to its internal organs and the chances of the whale surviving are slim,” said Cole.
“We’re hoping that the high tide will wash it back out to sea, but it’s impossible for us to move it at this point because it’s too big and its body has sunk into the sand.”
Cole said he could not verify what caused the stranding, but that there was no external trauma to the body of the whale.
“I have not sexed it yet or done any in-depth examinations on it in order not to stress it out more, but it could have been a simple navigational error that resulted in it being stranded,” said Cole.
At the time of writing, Cole and his team were still on the scene, trying to help the big mammal...