A DEPARTMENT of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) rescue team was unable to save a beached whale off the coast of Port MacDonnell yesterday afternoon.
The adult humpback was stranded west of Port MacDonnell near Finger Point in a sandy area between a reef and the shoreline.
Despite sustained efforts to assist the whale to free itself, the rescue was abandoned at around 2.30pm.
DEWNR spokesperson Drew Laslett, who led the rescue, said a PIRSA fisheries officer had reported the stranded whale at around 10.30am.
“You do everything you can to help, but often there is an underlying health issue which has caused the animal to strand in the first place,” Mr Laslett told The Border Watch.
“We spent a good two hours in the water, using a boat to try to herd the whale out to sea.
“It was in about a metre of water and facing roughly in the right direction to move to sea, but high tide wasn’t high enough and it has since been swept closer to shore.”
Mr Laslett said the nine metre whale had sustained injuries on the rocky reef.
“The whale is bleeding and has attracted quite a few sharks already,” Mr Laslett said at the scene.
“There were a few large sharks in the water with us – I was assured they weren’t white pointers, they might have been threshers I think.”
“We were disappointed but there’s nothing else we can do for the whale now.”
A crowd of subdued onlookers stayed with the whale long after the rescue attempt, maintaining a respectful distance.
“It’s really sad but sometimes you need to let nature take its course,” one onlooker said.
Mr Laslett said due to the size of the whale, it was likely the carcass would be left to decompose on the shore.
“It’s not a residential area, there’s no one living nearby so the smell shouldn’t bother anyone,” he said.
“To move a whale that size from this stretch of beach would be difficult to manage.”
DEWNR staff continued to monitor the whale at the time of print.
