Beached whale killed with explosives

[Triton]

Beached whale killed with explosives

September 15, 2005 - 11:22AM




http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/09/15/1whale_wideweb__430x275.jpgA policeman attaches explosives to the head of a southern right whale that was stranded on Mnandi Beach near Cape Town.
Photo: Reuters


Related



Tragedy on the beach (http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/2005/09/15/1126377409419.html)



Marine biologists used explosives to kill an 11-tonne southern right whale beached helplessly on South Africa's coast, after several attempts to move it failed.
Mike Meyer of Marine and Coastal Management told the SAPA news agency that the two-year-old whale had become stranded in shallow water at Mnandi Beach on Cape Town's False Bay coast after an apparent "navigational error".
"In this case the animal made a mistake ... it wasn't a sick animal, it went too close to shore and got caught out," he was quoted as saying.
Marine and Coastal Management officials made the decision to euthanase the animal, which they said could not be saved.
Carol Esmosas, spokesman for the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, said the use of explosives was recommended for such cases by the International Whaling Commission.
She said the other options - the use of a huge rifle or injections of drugs - were considered riskier and more painful for the animal.
It is whale breeding season along the Cape coast at the moment.
DPA, AP


http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/09/15/1whale_gallery__550x353.jpg
A policeman attaches explosives to the head of a southern right whale that was stranded on Mnandi Beach near Cape Town.
Photo: Reuters


http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/09/15/2whale_gallery__550x313,0.jpg
A stranded 10-metre whale lies dead on the beach at Mnandi Beach, Cape Town, after police blew it up with explosives.
Photo: AP/Obed Zilwa


http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/09/15/3whale_gallery__550x324,0.jpg
The whale, blown up after it was unable to be rescued.
Photo: AP/Obed Zilwa


http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/09/15/4whale_gallery__550x295,0.jpg
The whale, blown up after it was unable to be rescued.
Photo: AP/Obed Zilwa

[Jules]

That is horrible I cant believe that, surely there is a better way than explosives! I mean with todays technology COME ON YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!

[warlord0]

The sad fact is that with there being no "humane" way to kill a whale the explosives would have at least been better than risking longer delays with a rifle.

It's just a real shame that this happens and so regularly these days. South Aftrica have been criticised in the past of not taking time and effort to assist stranded whales, but merely to euthanize them as option one!

[dragonmonkey]

ya so now they have a giant carcass to deal with instead of just gathering up the man power to get the back into deeper water.

a very sick way to " euthanize " a creature, that and now the negative publicity that will be associated....

it is just so easy to do the wrong thing isnt it.

[Orca]

Was it a live stranding? I Could'nt read the whole thing..Either way,such a waste of a perfectly good whale...

If it was alive and not sick they could have just thrown it back into the ocean.It's not that big.

[warlord0]

I can't imagine the logistics required to tow a huge whale into the sea and successfully release it without drowning it. Let alone even getting anything around the whale whilst it's thrashing around.

I appreciate it's probably very difficult, but not impossible and there are people who have experience who do this to call on.

[RebelYell4]

I appreciate it's probably very difficult, but not impossible and there are people who have experience who do this to call on.

Exactly! If they truly cared about the whale's life then they would have tried harder to save his of her life by returning him or her back to the ocean by differents means or finding experienced people. Explosives sound plain cruel to me.

[yesawaken]

Exactly! If they truly cared about the whale's life then they would have tried harder to save his of her life by returning him or her back to the ocean by differents means or finding experienced people. Explosives sound plain cruel to me.

I'm sure they used explosives, not to get a kick out of it, but to instantaneously end the whale's life. It was probably the most humane way of achieving that.

[RebelYell4]

I'm sure they used explosives, not to get a kick out of it, but to instantaneously end the whale's live. It was probably the most humane way of achieving that.

I do get that explosives were used because it was the quickest way to die but I still don't find explosives a pleasant way to die, especially since the whale still had the opportunity to live.

[Shards]

What is the process of repatriating a whale back to the sea, exactly? What sort of equipment and logistics does it involve? There's always a right tool for the job, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's available when you need it, or that it'll be useful for anything else. I used to fight fires out west, and we had the best equipment for it. I've seen fires here on the east coast where having some of the equipment we had back west would've been perfect, but it would be so rarely used, they couldn't justify the cost. Maybe the same principle is in effect here?

[Shards]

Thanks. I'll take a look through those photos.
Do you know offhand anything of a success vs. fail rate, or could you point me somewhere that would have that information?

[Shards]

Thanks. I'll take a look tomorrow (getting late, and I need all the beauty sleep I can get).

[Shards]

reminds me of that beach that tried to use explosives to get rid of a dead whale on the beach. They ended up setting it wrong, and instead of blowing it into the ocean, it went into the parking lot and everything.
Explosives are probably the best way to quickly kill whales. It is much faster than simply firearms, or spears.

Yeah, that one appears on a few of those various home video shows, wildest video shows, etc. They used so much explosive, hundred + pound chunks of the (already dead) whale all over the place. Well, it's a shitty thing to happen, for a whale to die that way. But I do love big explosions, all the same.