Strange visitor in Plett lagoon

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Plettenberg Bay's Poortjies lagoon has prolific marine life, but over the weekend it had a visitor one would not expect - a pygmy sperm whale.

Pygmy sperm whales usually thrive in the depths of the ocean, far from the shallows of the lagoon.

Marine expert Gwen Penry said Plettenberg Bay volunteers from the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) and locals who came across the whale on Saturday 21 January took it into deeper water. It is unclear how and why the whale ended up in the lagoon.

Those who assisted with the rescue effort indicated that the whale was about 3,5m long - roughly the size of an adult - and once it reached deeper water, it dived swiftly and disappeared.

The Plett sighting comes after four of the same species - two males, a female and a female calf only about a day old - stranded on Dias Beach in Mossel Bay last month.

After experts determined that their chance of survival was slim, all four animals were euthanised.

The reason for their stranding is also still unclear, as necropsies performed by the Bayworld Oceanarium in Gqeberha showed no definite cause, as no obvious major health issues were revealed.

Pygmy sperm whales are found in temperate and tropical seas worldwide and are seen either alone or in small groups of up to five. They are rarely spotted as they spend very little time at the water's surface.

This is also why very little is known about the species. Most information has been obtained from stranded whales.

The NSRI launched a jetRIB to help bring the whale into deeper water.