Successful Humpback Whale Rescue

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zafar

21 Oct 2021

Whale rescues barely ever have a happy ending - too often, the cause of the stranding is unknown, there is too much damage to the animal's organs, the tides aren't helping with the rescue, or the animal keeps on re-beaching itself. This one was different. Thanks to local tour operator JP and Jacques from Red Dune Safaris, we were informed early about this stranding about 50km South of Walvis Bay. Together with our colleagues from the Namibian Dolphin Project and other tour operators, we made a plan to drive out with a few strong rescuers and rescue equipment, and then we tried our best to get him back into the water! After more than 4 hours, we were rewarded with the most beautiful sight possible: the whale started thrashing his tail, and a few minutes later, he swam of into the deep ocean. For Tony, it was the first whale rescue ever, Denzil had already been part of the last (unsuccessful) one. Naude has experienced 10 large whale rescues before, this one was the first successful one. Wally has been part of many of those attempted rescues. He went all in and got himself hurt on his shoulder, but he insists it was all worth it. This rescue happened on Monday, 14th June - and so far, we have not seen him again, which is a very good sign, and we are hopeful and positive. To find out more about our work, please like, comment, share and subscribe to our videos and