South City Beach was the centre of attention on Sunday when a young humpback whale beached itself about 400 metres south of the groyne.
The whale was discovered close to the sand early on Sunday morning by the Beach Inspector, and IRB crews who arrived for training were called on to assist when it managed to reach deeper water. Unfortunately, despite twice freeing itself the whale kept returning to the beach and spent most of the day trapped in the shallows with the tide dropping.
DEC staff estimated the whale to be about fifteen months old and to weigh about seven tons, meaning physically moving it back to deep water was impossible. At that age the whale would have been on its first northern migration without its mother - a testing time which only the strongest survive. A number of scars all over its body indicated it is likely the whale had escaped attacks by killer whales before heading in to the beach.
As the day went on, the hopes for the whale surviving the ordeal diminished. As night fell the DEC staff remained on watch (in the warmth of a club tent in the sandhills), but it seems most likely that the focus of the operation will soon have to turn from rescue to removal.
City club members are to be congratulated for their assistance and efforts during the day, in particular IRB crews Brett Wakefield, Luke Reeves, David McRae and Phil Green who spent most of the day on the beach.
