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Whale rescue effort suspended
SABC NEWS
22nd October 2004
The rescue operation to free a whale entangled in a net off the Port Elizabeth coast has been called off for the moment. The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) managed to remove some of the net from the Humpback whale. However, its tail is still caught up in a large piece of net.
The whale is said to be traumatised and is moving close to the shore. One of the rescuers was hit by the whale and had to be taken for x-rays. Wendy Kant, a Bayworld's stranding co-ordinator, says they want to give the whale a chance to recover before resuming the rescue operation.
"The whale looks very weak. It was definitely still breathing but not moving very much. So I think the whale is quite weak. Hopefully the whale is strong enough to survive the attempt by the NSRI to rescue it, but yet not strong enough that it can swim away where we cannot attempt the rescue. So it is a very difficult situation for them. They will have to just monitor the animal for a while before they get in the water with it," he said.
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