Niël Terblanché
VOLUNTEERS of the Namibia Dolphin Project assisted by residents of Swakopmund managed to refloat a whale that washed ashore near Mile 8 on Wednesday but it died a short while later.
According to Jack Fearey, a volunteer at the dolphin project, the whale was identified a s a juvenile humpback.
He indicated that the young whale had no visible wounds or injuries on its body to indicate that it was struck by a vessel in the open ocean that would have caused it to wash ashore.
The only other plausible cause for the whale to come close in to shore is if it falls ill or if it gets injured by adult whales.
The frequency of whales beaching is higher in the winter months especially in July as they start migrating north from the west coast of South Africa to their breeding grounds in the ocean off Gabon. When they migrate south during September the frequency of the animals beaching, goes up again.
