Whale freed from shark nets in Ballito

The 10 to 15 tonne whale became entangled in the nets at about 11am Tuesday morning after swimming inshore. Humpbacks can often be seen swimming along the coastline this time of the year as they enter warmer waters for their annual breeding season, North Coast Courier reported.

“The animal was in pretty bad shape when we arrived on the scene. It was underweight and was full of scars,” Mike Andersen-Reade, head of operations at KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board (KZNSB), said.

Andersen-Reade said the young humpback caught in the nets was the same animal seen swimming off Salt Rock yesterday afternoon and did not appear to be part of a pod.

Quentin Power of the Specialised Rescue Unit said that KZNSB deployed two boats to release the whale and replace the shark nets that they had to cut in order to free the animal. After almost two hours, the young whale was freed at 1.45pm and guided into deeper waters.

“It is always great to help out a suffering animal, so we are happy that we managed to cut the whale free and to see it swimming again,” said Andersen-Reade.

He added his team conducted an average of six whale releases a year, with the majority happening between September and October.

According to him, releasing a whale trapped in the nets was not easy, as the size and temperament of the animal made the situation of freeing it extremely dangerous and the reason no unauthorised individual was permitted to get within 300 metres of the animal.

– Caxton News Service