On the 6th of March, a Blainville’s Beaked Whale beached itself on the rocks at the Beacon Island Hotel. The presence of this animal drew quite the crowd and the NSRI were also called to the scene to assist. Unfortunately with cetaceans (whales and dolphins), they are protected species, so with all good intentions, not much can be done with them without the permissions from the relevant authorities. Shortly after the animals beached itself, it passed away.
These situations are extremely unfortunate, but in a way, it also gives an opportunity to those studying the animals to gain more information on them. For this reason, ORCA Foundation assisted the Centre for Dolphin Studies (CDS) and Bayworld with the necropsy to try to determine the cause of death.
The animal was a young adult male, weighing in at around 830 kg and just shy of 5 meters. During the dissection, no obvious causes of death could be determined, but we still await biopsy reports from Bayworld.
Not much is known about these whales as they are tropical and warm temperate deep see residents and rarely come into coastal waters. Their diet mostly consists of squid and octopus. Their maximum length is 4.9 metres and maximum weight is almost a tonne.
According to Dr Cockcroft of CDS, only about 5 of this particular species have ever beached in our area and he has been studying whales and dolphins in the area for over 30 years. The last one beached approximately 14 years ago.
ORCA TIMES- Quarterly report: January - March 2019
RESEARCH & MONITORING Bumper breeding season for Robberg seals? Between January-March volunteers assisted biologists with six boat-based counts of Cape fur seals that haul out on Robberg Peninsula. Apart from routine counts of adult seals, which have levelled off since 2012 despite seasonal fluctuations in their numbers, our biologists were surprised by the large increase […] Continue Reading...
EDUCATION- Overview!
Education- Siyakula Pre-School Education Once a week, volunteers visit young children at the local crèche to give a lesson on basic English words based on the theme of the week. All teaching is done in English (translated by the teachers into their mother tongue of isiXhosa) so that kids can learn a second language. It […] Continue Reading...
CONSERVATION Overview!
Conservation- Beach Clean-Ups We regularly hike along Plettenberg Bay’s beaches to remove marine debris. Unfortunately we live in a world where people still expose of their rubbish from vessels, in rivers or on beaches. This often causes deadly entanglement in marine animals. Tiny plastic particles (micro-plastics) are also known to end up in the ocean […] Continue Reading...
RESEARCH- Overview!
RESEARCH Overview The ORCA Foundation offers a unique learning experience for volunteers who are passionate about the marine environment. It will allow you to make valuable contributions to increased knowledge, awareness and conservation efforts while supporting applied marine research. As part of our comprehensive volunteer programme, you will regularly receive the opportunity to assist our […] Continue Reading...
The origins of marine mammals
The origins of marine mammals Although all marine mammals evolved from land mammals, it may surprise some that each group of marine mammals has its own unique ancestry. There are three groups of marine mammals: the cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), the pinnipeds (fur seals, sea lions, walruses and seals) and the sirenians (dugongs and […] Continue Reading...
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