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21 Aug 2018

Baby whale washes up on Durban beach

Zainul Dawood (Daily News) Picture: A whale washed up at Pipeline Beach in Amanzimtoti on Tuesday, drawing scores of curious onlookers to the beach. (Photo: Rescue Care)

A whale washed up on Pipeline Beach in Amanzimtoti on Tuesday, drawing scores of curious onlookers to the beach.

Authorities were on the scene to prevent people from hacking the meat of the whale before KZN Wildlife experts can conduct the necessary tests on the whale to determine what caused it to wash up on the beach.

Mandy Rudman, a concerned resident said the whale calf died soon after beaching in the surf. Rudman initially tried to get people onto the beach to push the stranded whale back out to sea.

A local resident  Paul Badenhorst said the whale was too deep into the water to get hacked. He said he watched as the whale struggled against the breakers rolling in. Badenhorst said the whale was facing seawards and he had spotted a few sharks lurking nearby.

Wendy du Plessis, an Amanzimtoti resident at the scene, said the whale was just too exhausted.
A whale washed up at Pipeline Beach in Amanzimtoti on Tuesday, drawing scores of curious onlookers to the beach. Picture: Supplied.

“It is also suspected that this is the same calf that was revived and rescued eight days ago but if he has lost contact with his mum, then chances of him surviving were slim,” du Plessis said.

Ann Kunz, an uShaka Sea world spokesperson, confirmed that the whale had died and a team of experts were at the scene.

A whale washed up at Pipeline Beach in Amanzimtoti on Tuesday, drawing scores of curious onlookers to the beach. Video: Rescue Care.