With the breathtaking sights of visiting whales during the highly-anticipated annual whale season along the south coast from Cape Town to Mossel Bay, also comes the tragic sightings of beached whales.
A southern right whale was seen washed ashore on Dwarskersbos beach, Velddrif, at around midday on Wednesday, 21 September. The footage of the carcass lying on the beach was captured and shared by Cape Camino on Facebook.
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Take a look:
The comment section was flooded with expressions of sadness as the ocean bid farewell to another gentle giant, with some agreeing that it’s part of mother nature’s way of balancing out the ecosystem.
Some commenters speculate that the beached whale may be related to the recent storm surge that saw massive waves flooding the country’s coastal areas and damaging nearby properties over the past weekend.
This, however, has not been confirmed.
The southern right whale is a baleen whale, one of the three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus Eubaleena.
According to Daily Maverick, Dr Els Vermeulen, the research manager of the Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit at the University of Pretoria, explained that the name of the species came about because they are the ‘right’ whales to hunt – they are slow-swimming, swim close to the shore and their behaviour is predictable.
There are 80% fewer southern right whales today than there were in the 18th century when whaling began.
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Picture: Screenshot from video / Facebook