Dead sperm whale washes ashore at St Mike’s
It's giant carcass attracted a lot of attention and many visitors and locals flocked to the beach to catch a glimpse of the massive species.
The South Coast is seeing lots of marine life activity along its shore.
Sadly, it has not been all positive, a large sperm whale carcass washed up onto the shore at St Mike’s and a very special green turtle died after being found on a local beach.
The Southbroom Conservancy reported that the turtle was transported to uShaka Marine World in Durban on Monday this week, but sadly didn’t survive after the veterinary and rehab team tried for two hours to revive her.
About two weeks ago, a female leatherback turtle washed up in a decomposed state at the Trafalgar Marine Protected Area. The interesting part was that the turtle had a flipper tag which provided an unique opportunity to gain a tiny bit of insight into her history.
Meanwhile, the dead whale, spent most of the week rolling around on the shoreline. It’s giant carcass attracted a lot of attention and many visitors and locals flocked to the beach to catch a glimpse of the massive species.
Yesterday (Wednesday) locals were seen chopping up the carcass that had washed onto the beach at low tide.
The weather has certainly turned a little chilly in the last few days, and the aloes are beginning to bloom.
These are sometimes good indications for sardine watchers, and perhaps we may be lucky enough to experience the great arrival of the little silver fish this year.
The shark nets have not yet been removed, but many of the beaches are still closed from the floods last month.
The KZN Sharks Board’s most recent sardine observation flight was last Tuesday.
Lots of dolphin activity, and even shoals of sardines, were recorded from Msikaba near Port Edward to Hole in the Wall.
Greg Thompson of the KZN Sharks Board said the most favourable water visibility on this flight was only about three to four metres, and this was in the entire area between Hole in the Wall and Umgazana.
“These indications are all positive that the sardines are making their way up from the Eastern Cape towards KwaZulu-Natal. Especially, when you take the increase in shark activity at Grosvenor into consideration,” he said.
The flight scheduled for today (Thursday) will not be taking place for unforeseen circumstances.
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