Whales at Kommetjie

55+ Pilot whales beached on Kommetjie Beach Cape Town on Saturday 30 May 2009 - including some very young babies. All of them died.

Sjoe what an emotional experience that was.... we went to see the whales at about 17:00 last night.

Most had been euthanised already but there were 3-4 still alive in the water and people were still trying to rescue them, to no avail, and I am pretty sure those had to be shot in the end as well.

They managed to get a few back out into the water earlier in the day but they just kept coming back and there was nothing that could be done to prevent it.

Apparently years ago (many hundreds or even thousands) there was a channel from Kommetjie to Fish Hoek and the whales could pass through there instead of going around Cape Point. It seems that for some reason these whales thought they could pass through there still and were doggedly determined to go that way. So even when pulled away off the beach they came back either to the same spot or a little further down the beach...



It was incredibly sad and devastating, but also quite majestic and special to see them. Also to see the outpouring of love and concern from the people who were wading into the freezing water in their clothing to try to comfort and even attempting to push the whales back towards the sea. Some people were taking their t-shirts off to drape over the whales to keep them wet while there was still hope of saving them.

More pics here:http://www.news24.com/Content/Galleries/Image/Images/MyNews24/Beached%20whales%20in%20Kommetjie