Huge Humpback Whale Chopped Up By Ships Propellers

This is the huge humpback whale that has been pulled from the water after it was chopped up by a ship’s propellers.

The startling images were taken at the slipway of the Oceana Boat Club in Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa when the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) was pulled from the water by the city’s Environmental Management Branch (EMB) team.

Credit: CEN/City of Cape Town
The carcass was removed from the water at the Oceana power boat club slipway

The whale was reportedly 10 metres (32 feet) long before it was hit by the propellers of an unnamed ship and the ship then reported what had happened to the local port authority.

The EMB team said they only pulled seven metres (23 feet) of the whale out of the water as the other three metres had been lost when the propeller hit it behind the dorsal fin.

EMB spokesman Jacques du Toit said the whale’s carcass had been taken to a landfill site.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) have previously said there is no real solution to stop whales from colliding with ships.

Credit: CEN/City of Cape Town
According to experts, the number of the whales in the area makes such incidents hard to avoid and prevent

The commission suggests trying to keep whales from swimming near ships and boats to slow down if they spot a whale swimming close by.

Du Toit said the accident could not have been avoided, adding that the EMB usually recover around 15 whales every year. He said the humpback whale had been at the water’s surface and then tried to dive to avoid the ship.


To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Alex CopeSub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News


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