A whale calf was stranded on August 13 near the Moroni port in Comoros. Locals mobilised on a grand scale to rescue the 10-tonne creature, keeping it alive until it was free to swim away. A livestreamed video shows the impressive rescue effort.
A 10-tonne humpback whale calf was stranded in low-tide waters of the coast of Comoros’s capital Moroni in the early morning hours of August 13. The calf was originally stranded with its mother before she managed to free herself and swim offshore into the Indian Ocean.
A two-and-a-half-hour video livestream on Facebook posted by a Comoran news site shows the entire rescue.
A group of people, including volunteers, divers, fishermen, firefighters and the coast guard, worked in shifts to keep the baby whale alive, splashing water on its back to keep it cool.
When they are outside of water, whales are unable to maintain their body temperature. Being exposed can cause their skin to dry out, leading to death.
Some volunteers donned snorkels, checking out the calf’s position, keeping it from moving farther toward the shore. They used buckets, water pumps and just their hands to continuously pour water on it.
Meanwhile, dozens of people gathered to watch the rescue from the nearby port, cheering on the efforts.
According to local accounts, residents stayed with the whale between 5am and 11am to keep it cool until the tide rose once again and the calf was able to swim off.
But that wasn’t the end of the whale’s struggle. Once it was freed from the port, the calf became stuck in fishing nets. A video shows several men on a boat using machetes to cut the nets and free the animal.
Another video taken from under the water shows injuries on the calf’s fins.
Humpback whales living in the Southern Hemisphere follow a migratory cycle each year between the Antarctic, where they feed, to tropical areas like the Indian Ocean, where they mate and reproduce between July and October.
The whale species is native to Comoros, where many national parks and organisations run whale-watching expeditions for tourists.
Like many marine species, humpback whales have been impacted by human population growth, activity and encroachment. Although the species is growing in population, humpback whales still face significant threats including entanglement in fishing gear, being hit by vessels, pollution and climate change.
The International Whaling Commission estimates that more than 300,000 whales and dolphins die each year due to entanglement in fishing gear.
Last year, Comoros expanded its network of protected areas to include three new protected marine areas. These marine ecosystems are feeding or breeding grounds for a number of sea creatures, including green sea turtles. The marine protection program serves to increase awareness of biodiversity protection and impose restrictions on harmful fishing practices.
