They are not often sighted at sea and most of what is known about them comes from the examination of stranded specimens. Their conservation status is unknown, as they are so seldom seen and there is very little research available on them.
The mother whale that had beached was 3m long and her weaned male calf was 2.5m long.
Local fishermen came across the animals on Friday morning, at around 08:30, and tried to launch them back into the swell. Eventually, they notified the authorities and soon, local emergency services, including Craig Viljoen, who runs the Cetacean Stranding Unit in the Mossel Bay area, were on the scene, followed by marine experts from Oceans Research.
According to Viljoen, this was the sixth incident involving pygmy sperm whales at Dana Bay.
A number of student interns, after being briefed by Viljoen, continued the rescue operation. Making up two groups, they tried tirelessly to swim the whales back into the surf, but to no avail, as they kept on washing up.
The operation continued for numerous hours, but the whales’ sensitive skins became bruised and bloodied from continuously rolling in the surf. At long last, the students congregated around the whales in an effort to make them as comfortable as possible amidst the circumstances.
Unfortunately, the animals had to be euthanased. A necropsy (animal autopsy) has been requested in order to determine the cause of death, amongst other things, as conservationists believe it to be an ideal opportunity, however tragic, to gain more knowledge on the pygmy sperm whale. The disposal process was, however, ensued as per the required procedures.
"There can be a multitude of reasons why the whales were stranded. At this point, we can but speculate. It serves to be noted that these type of incidents involving pygmy sperm whales occur more regularly at this time of year in and around Mossel Bay."
Viljoen thanked the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishereis, SAPS Port of Entre, the NSRI, Mossel Bay emergency services, Oceans Research and Africa Media for their involvement in the rescue operation.
According to Viljoen, this type of cooperation shows that Mossel Bay takes conservation seriously.
The exhausted pygmy sperm whale calf, being comforted by young conservationists. Photo: Cornelle Carstens
ARTICLE: CORNELLE CARSTENS, MOSSEL BAY ADVERTISER JOURNALIST
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