Whales Rescue Attempts on Long Beach and Kommetjie beach were to no avail

Groups of rescuers made desperate attempts to push the creatures back to sea. Hundreds of volunteers tried to help them but, it was all in vain, with most of the false killer whales re-beaching themselves and then slowly dying of organ failure

Rescue teams had contemplated taking the whales to a nearby naval base and transporting them on boats to the deep sea, but the idea was abandoned because the animals' condition deteriorated rapidly.

So the most humane option to end their suffering was to shoot them Many of the False Killer whales turned out to be pregant females and calves, some of the whales bodies will be taken for research since its still not completely understood why they beach them selves en masse

To me this was the most poignant sight of the 2 hours I spend on this scene of destruction,

to see these young people sitting in freezing cold water with a helpless whale hoping against hope that they could rescue it

Some of the beached Whales Kommetjie Photos were published yesterday on the Cape Town Tourism website The best IMO if you are planning a holiday in Cape Town