Beached whales baffle researcher
The three incidents of beached humpback whales recorded this month are a cause for concern, says John Paul Roux, a researcher at the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources.
According to Roux, who is based at Lüderitz, the norm has been one or two such incidents a year.
A tour operator notified the Dolphin Project of a dead humpback whale in the vicinity of Paaltjies near Walvis Bay on Sunday.
In another incident, a member of the public reported a similar finding in the vicinity of Oranjemund on 17 March. A second beached whale was reported in the same area that week. Roux said the whales found near Oranjemund were relatively young, between 10 and 11 metres in length, and had been dead for some time. Adult humpback whales range from 12 to 16 metres in length and weigh about 36 000 kg. “It's alarming and very unusual to have two dead whales of the same species discovered in the same region and within a space of one week.
“We do not know the cause of death and actually want to survey beaches more extensively but we lack the means to do so. The coastline is not very accessible and we might be missing some mortalities taking place. Flying surveys would be ideal,” Roux said.
Photographs taken by a member of the public showed that the first humpback whale discovered this month had been dead at sea for a while before being beached about 7km north of the Orange River mouth.
Beau Tjizoo, another fisheries ministry scientist, confirmed the discovery of another beached humpback whale at Paaltjies near Walvis Bay on Sunday.
“The dead animal was discovered and its whereabouts reported. My colleagues visited the site to gather information and to measure the animal. Determining the probable cause of death is very difficult and depends on the condition of the carcass. We do not have any concrete information available at this moment,” he said.
Humpback whales are regular commuters along the Namibian coast. The animals migrate up to 25 000 km each year from their regular feeding grounds in the Antarctic to their breeding/calving grounds in the tropical waters of northern Angola and Gabon.
Humpbacks feed in polar waters, and migrate to tropical or subtropical waters to breed and give birth. When they fast, they live off their fat reserves. Their diet consists mostly of krill and small fish. Once hunted to the brink of extinction, the humpback population fell by an estimated 90% before a moratorium was imposed in 1966. Stocks have partially recovered but entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships and noise pollution continue to affect the estimated population of 80 000.
OTIS FINCK
According to Roux, who is based at Lüderitz, the norm has been one or two such incidents a year.
A tour operator notified the Dolphin Project of a dead humpback whale in the vicinity of Paaltjies near Walvis Bay on Sunday.
In another incident, a member of the public reported a similar finding in the vicinity of Oranjemund on 17 March. A second beached whale was reported in the same area that week. Roux said the whales found near Oranjemund were relatively young, between 10 and 11 metres in length, and had been dead for some time. Adult humpback whales range from 12 to 16 metres in length and weigh about 36 000 kg. “It's alarming and very unusual to have two dead whales of the same species discovered in the same region and within a space of one week.
“We do not know the cause of death and actually want to survey beaches more extensively but we lack the means to do so. The coastline is not very accessible and we might be missing some mortalities taking place. Flying surveys would be ideal,” Roux said.
Photographs taken by a member of the public showed that the first humpback whale discovered this month had been dead at sea for a while before being beached about 7km north of the Orange River mouth.
Beau Tjizoo, another fisheries ministry scientist, confirmed the discovery of another beached humpback whale at Paaltjies near Walvis Bay on Sunday.
“The dead animal was discovered and its whereabouts reported. My colleagues visited the site to gather information and to measure the animal. Determining the probable cause of death is very difficult and depends on the condition of the carcass. We do not have any concrete information available at this moment,” he said.
Humpback whales are regular commuters along the Namibian coast. The animals migrate up to 25 000 km each year from their regular feeding grounds in the Antarctic to their breeding/calving grounds in the tropical waters of northern Angola and Gabon.
Humpbacks feed in polar waters, and migrate to tropical or subtropical waters to breed and give birth. When they fast, they live off their fat reserves. Their diet consists mostly of krill and small fish. Once hunted to the brink of extinction, the humpback population fell by an estimated 90% before a moratorium was imposed in 1966. Stocks have partially recovered but entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships and noise pollution continue to affect the estimated population of 80 000.
OTIS FINCK
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