The orca was first spotted on the morning of September 7, stranded on the estuary side of Barra Beach.
A briefing of the incident was compiled by Dr Jess Williams, Dr Steph Venables, Bilardo Nharreluga and Joane Mary Jeffery to summarise the day’s events. Lowvelder also spoke to Greg Pugh, the owner of a dive and activity centre in Barra.
Initially, a group of business owners banded together to get the animal back into the water, as it was estimated that it had already been out of the water for three to four hours. Local police were also on the scene.
According to the briefing, the orca was about 5.5 metres long and found approximately 50 to 75 metres from the water line.
“The Barra expatriate community quickly assembled a response team with tractor and rollers to mobilise the animal and refloat it.
“It was then further assisted to move another 50 to 75 metres further offshore (south-west of the initial stranding location) where it beached on a shallower sand bank and remained half underwater, half exposed to the sun.”
Pugh said everyone was extremely pleased by the initial swim-off, just to realise that it was stuck again.
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At this stage (around 10:00) additional local police, fisheries officers and marine biologists arrived with the support of three boats. The marine biologists and fisheries officers decided it would be best to allow the animal some resting time while the tide was still low and access to deeper water restricted.
In the meantime, the orca was assessed for any external injuries; only superficial cuts and scratches were found.
A shade cloth was used to protect the animal from the sun and removed again when the tide began to rise.
“It moved into slightly deeper water, where it remained in a passive state, using the tail and pectoral flippers to prop itself upright to enable breathing without expending high levels of energy. This was a preliminary indicator, despite the initial stranding, that the animal was not in good health.”
From here, the animal was observed from vessels and encouraged to swim to the estuary mouth. At some stage the orca moved into a section of the estuary with many permanently fixed tidal fence fish traps used for artisanal fishing.
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This prevented the boat further access.
A team of four kayaks mobilised to guard the whale as fishermen and dhows were getting increasingly close to the animal. The kayak team remained with the animal until dark.
According to the briefing, “Prior to the dark, one dhow had anchored next to the animal with community members to support the kayak team, two other dhows were prepared and ready waiting 200 metres away in the edge of the mangroves.
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“Two police officers were on-site and spoke with the fishermen, directing them to leave the animal alone, discouraging them from poaching the protected species and explaining the potential health risk from consumption of the animal, along with the danger to fishers being in the water around the animal (or potential carcass) from increased shark activity in the area.”
The kayak team remained with the whale until complete darkness and had to leave the water as they were not equipped for night operations.
“After approximately 21:00, the status of the animal could not be confirmed, however, it’s last known position was on a tidal flat that becomes completely exposed during low tide, which was at 23:48.”
On September 8, early morning investigations began at sunrise and numerous parties were involved in determining the location and status of the animal.
“Communications with local village chiefs, local police and fisheries officers were made in an attempt to confirm rumours that the animal was now dead and the carcass had already been harvested by local communities from the mainland and nearby islands for aquatic bushmeat.
“The community chief provided an escort and granted approval for the team of marine biologists to inspect the carcass and perform an opportunistic necropsy on the animal.”
The exact cause of death could not be determined.
As a final note in the briefing, the authors warned there were health concerns for people who may have consumed the meat from this animal or were in direct contact with the carcass without the appropriate protective gear, such as masks and gloves.
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It also mentioned that increased shark activity can be expected in the area as the carcass remnants decompose. Water users should exercise caution and are discouraged from entering the surrounding waters during high-risk times of day (sunset, sunrise, murky turbid waters and being alone) for the next seven to 10 days.
In the briefing, it was stated that many stakeholders united and volunteered their time, energy, resources, support, boats, materials and contacts to support the authorities and biologists, which was greatly appreciated.
“For many of us, this is a first, and it was an extremely emotional event,” said Pugh.
