Sizeable operation in Cape Town harbour to save a whale calf

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

A number of authorities and organisations joined forces in the Cape Town harbour late on Sunday and during the night, to save an eight-metre baby whale, which was trapped between a ship and the quayside.

In the end, a 180-metre, 24-thousand ton ship had to be untied from the pier and moved, to allow the calf, estimated to be about a year old, to be led out to sea.

National Sea Rescue institute spokesperson Craig Lambinon says the crew of the university ship, MV Explorer, reported yesterday that the whale was trapped, and subsequent efforts to lure it out were not working.

It resulted in a sizeable operation to move the ship.

The calf later followed a tug boat, and experts believed it mistook the vessel for its mother.

The tug boat's crew slowly and patiently led the whale out to sea, and experts are optimistic about its chances of survival, even though it had been sep