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Image by: © Arthur Estment
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Zigzag was on scene this morning (Saturday 14 August) to witness a massive dead whale that had washed up on the rocks near Clark Beach in Ballito. From the remains it is believed to be an adult Humpbacked whale which is common in South African waters.
The whale was spotted alive but struggling offshore at Sheffield Beach yesterday surrounded by dolphins and other sea life. Sometime overnight the whale washed up dead without most of its head. It was also evident that the carcass had been snacked on by sharks. The Ballito Dolphin Coast Honoree officers were horrified that surfers entered and remained in the water at Clark bay about 150 metres down the track from the dead whale.
Although today's incident is quite rare in KZN waters, occasionally dead (and some alive) whales, dolphins and sharks do wash ashore each year. Most notably was in 2007 when another huge carcass of an 11-metre Humpbacked whale washed into the bathing area of Margate beach, on the south coast. Last year Zigzag also reported on a juvenile 7 metre whale shark that washed up on the rocks at Scottburgh.
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