A juvenile Humpback whale was assisted in a disentanglement operation this past weekend.
Stephen van den Berg, NSRI Gqeberha duty coxswain, said: At 10h00, Sunday, 14 September, NSRI Gqeberha and the SA Whale Disentanglement Network (SAWDN) volunteers were alerted to reports to NSRI EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) of a juvenile Humpback whale entangled in fishing rope.
A local fishing vessel was on the scene where the 8.5 to 9 meter whale had become entangled in their fishing rope.
The fishing vessel skipper and crew were attempting to assist to free the whale from the fishing rope and requested assistance, 18 nautical miles South of Cape Recife.
2 NSRI rescue craft, Rescue 6 Alpha and Eddie Beaumont II, accompanied by NSRI SAWDN trained crew, the SAWDN specialised cutting equipment and extra fuel, were launched.
Telkom Maritime Radio Services assisted with marine VHF radio communications.
On arrival on the scene we found the whale calm, appearing to be tired, and docile, with multiple wraps of fishing rope entangling the whale around the tail.
The fishing vessel skipper and crew were hard at work, trying their best to free the whale from the entanglement.
The NSRI rescue craft were manoeuvred into position where the NSRI trained SAWDN crew set to work, using the specialised cutting equipment, where following multiple cuts to the fishing rope entanglement all fishing rope was cut free and recovered.
After being freed of the entanglement the young whale seemed to take a while to rest and gather strength before swimming off confidently.
The fishing vessel skipper and crew are commended for their care and assistance.
We are confident of the success of this whale disentanglement operation that was completed at 15h00.
