FREE WILLY

A HUMPBACK whale was rescued from certain death near Elands Bay.

The juvenile was vasgevang in fishing rope and flotation buoys off the coast.

A Purse Seiner fishing vessel reported the eight-metre long marine mammal in distress and fatigued, as the young walvis became more and more entangled in the ropes 17 nautical miles offshore on Tuesday.

NSRI station 24, Lamberts Bay, NSRI station 44, St Helena Bay, and NSRI station 34, Yzerfontein, were alerted by South African Whale Disentanglement Network (SAWDN) following reports from the fishing vessel offshore, North of Elands Bay, of a whale entangled in fishing rope and flotation buoys.

NSRI spokesperson, Craig Lambinon, said NSRI crew members were trained by SAWDN for these incidents.

Lambinon explained: “Crews from all three NSRI stations responded to the NSRI Lamberts Bay station 34 rescue base, where the NSRI rescue craft Spirit of Saldanha was launched, accompanied by NSRI crew (who are all trained SAWDN crew) and accompanied by the specialised SAWDN cutting equipment.

“Telkom Maritime Radio Services, NSRI Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), and NSRI headquarters operations assisted in communications and logistics.”

On arrival at where the whale had been spotted, a search was launched.

Lambinon said the whale appeared to be tired and lethargic, most likely from being entangled for quite some time.

He added: “A kegging buoy and an extra flotation buoy were attached to the existing entangled fishing rope to increase the whale’s buoyancy and to limit movement of the whale further. This was a precaution, as the whale was already not moving around much.”

The NSRI rescue craft coxswain, Gerhard Visagie, gently manoeuvered the rescue craft alongside the whale, and the crew began the challenging task of cutting the entangled fishing rope cautiously...

“The whale appeared to cooperate with the efforts employed to cut free the thick fishing rope, and after eight cuts the struggling whale was finally set free. “