Beached Pilot Whales Euthanized - Western Cape, South Africa

May 30, 2009 | Cape Town, South Africa | Vetting explained

Posted by:
CTEye

Viewed 80,546 times
Shared 56 times
Last updated: May 30, 2009

iReport —

55 Pilot whales began beaching themselves since early this morning and officials and volunteers have tried in vain to help them back into the water.

Some of the whales were successfully returned to the water with front-end loaders.

About 35 whales that had stranded themselves on Kommetjie beach have been euthanized after efforts to rescue them failed.

Crowds of people had gathered on the beach to watch the rescuse efforts and many became emotional when the decision to euthanize the animals was made.

Nan Rice, head of the Dolphin Action and Protection group said "mass strandings are extremely stressful for whales and to save stranding whales is an extremely difficult task".

As we were walking away, we heard the shots - a sound that will stay with me for a long time.

Share this on:

del.icio.us

StumbleUpon

Comments

iReport welcomes a lively discussion, so comments on iReports are not pre-screened before they post. See the iReport community guidelines for details about content that is not welcome on iReport.

What is iReport?

Share

Tell a story, offer an opinion, say what's important to you.
Discuss

Join the conversation on the day's big issues.
Be heard

The best iReports get vetted and used on CNN platforms.

iReport is a user-generated section of CNN.com. The stories here come from users. CNN has vetted only the stories marked with the "CNN" badge. MORE...

CNN iReport