A large part of the South African coast has been closed after a 15-metre whale washed ashore following an attack by great white sharks.
The whale was pulled from the waves after its catch attracted large numbers of great white sharks to the shore of MuizenƄerg Beach, near Cape Town, on Sunday.
Authorities have since removed the southern right whale from the beach, but closed a stretch of coast from MuizenƄerg to Monwaisi “as a precaution.”
When the bulldozers turned the whale over, you can see sections of its body where the sharks had feasted.
Dragged ashore: the rescue team transports the dead animals each with a harness
From head to tail, a member of the council’s salvage team records the length of stranded whale carcasses.
The whale’s body is prepared before being loaded onto a truck.
Disaster response teams acted quickly to lift the animal out of the water and onto a flattened truck, no easy task for a species of whale that can weigh up to 47 tons.
Wilfred Soloмons-Johannes, spokesperson for the Cape Town disaster risk management centre, said: “The decision was made to start the recovery operation immediately due to increased shark activity off beaches along the coast of Fagge Bay.
The warning did not stop curious onlookers from flocking to the place.
Workers try to recover the carcasses of stranded whales at MuizenƄerg Ƅcada
