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

33 False Killer Whales shot on Kommetjie beach, Cape Town, South Africa. Causing grief and despair...

A tragedy unfolded on the beach of Kommetjie today 55 False Killer whales had beached themselves early morning False killer whales travel in groups called pods consisting of 20-100 individuals, although pods of several hundred have been recorded.

I went late afternoon and saw many beached whales, some had died out of sheer stress, others had been shot in the head as this was deemed to be the kindest way to release them from certain but painful death they were bleeding but I saw some still alive in the water too

This poor chap didnt make it.... I found it a rather distressing scene

False killer whales are fast, active swimmers. They are very intelligent and highly trainable, which is why they are displayed in many marine parks
They have large, conical teeth as you can see in the above photo (click on the photo to enlarge)

The first appearance of the False Killer Whales in South Africa was on Cristmas Eve, 1928. A school of about a hundred flung themselves on to the beach at Kommetjie

Kindly people tried to save some by carrying and guiding them back towards deeper water but as soon as they regained their strength, they would simply leap on to the beach once more.

Officials and volunteers have been struggling throughout the day to help the whales back into the sea mostly to no avail they kept making a u-turn and re beached themselves

Some solitary false killer whales have become "friendly" around humans, following vessels. One such animal, nicknamed "Willy", became resident in Barkley Sound, B.C. and "adopted" a vessel, the Lady Rose. When the Lady Rose was brought to Vancouver for a steamship festival, Willy followed along and must have lost her amongst all the boat traffic. Willy stayed around Vancouver Harbour for many years and became well-known to sailors and vessel captains. In 2003, Willy travelled north to Juneau, Alaska and back - and the B.C. Cetacean Sightings Network was able to track his travels via regular reports from observers up and down the coast.

These people must have felt frozen, it was already cold for me standing in my 3 layers of clothes on the beach it certainly shows their dedication

What a stunning place to die

but how cruel yet how exquisitely beautiful is our Mother Nature