Thanks to a concerned eyewitness, the on-duty crew at NSRI Simon’s Town branch was activated yesterday afternoon by the Transnet National Ports Authority.

The issue? A large Southern Right whale, 10 to 12 meters in length, entangled with at least eight wraps of rope around its tail.

Found just off Sunny Cove, the southern corner of Fish Hoek, here’s all the action, as told by the NSRI:

The NSRI Simon’s Town sea rescue craft Spirit of Surfski II launched immediately, carrying SAWDN (South African Whale Disentanglement Network) cutting equipment, with the intention to respond to the scene to recce the situation.

The NSRI Simon’s Town sea rescue craft Spirit of Safmarine III followed later accompanied by members of SAWDN and NSRI Kommetjie responded with additional SAWDN cutting equipment, that is stored at the NSRI Kommetjie sea rescue station, and the NSRI Kommetjie sea rescue craft IL Battello was towed to Simon’s Town and launched.

The NSRI Simon’s Town rescue vehicle was dispatched to Clovelly parking area to assist with communications and crowd assistance and Cape Town Traffic Services responded to assist with traffic control at Main Road, Clovelly, where a bottle neck on the roadway was caused from concerned onlookers and traffic flow was further hampered by road works taking place in the area.

The whale swam away appearing to be healthy, and the disentanglement operation was successful.

Whooo.

Although an unfortunate situation, it appears the NSRI are getting very good at this.

[source:nsri]