Dead whale buried after grueling six days

The partially-decomposed whale washed up on the rocks at Mostertshoek.

After almost a week-long battle, the carcass of a 10m-long whale has been safely buried at the Humansdorp waste site.

The partially-decomposed carcass washed up on a remote stretch of rocks near Mostertshoek towards the end of June, where former Kouga councillor Chimpie Cawood spotted and reported it to Alderman Ben Rheeder.

Kouga Mayor Horatio Hendricks commended the manner in which the Alderman, municipal staff and a local towing company handled the disposal of the carcass.

“It was a massive whale and moving it was never going to be easy.

“Alderman Rheeder, the municipal manager and Community Services staff explored every avenue and finally decided to call on Dolf de Vos and his towing team to help move the carcass,” he said.

Rheeder said reaching the carcass and lifting it up was a nerve-wrecking task.   

“The whale was already in an advanced stage of decomposition, so the carcass came apart easily. We first tried picking it up by the tail, but the tail broke off.

“There was also a very steep dune, which made it difficult to access the carcass.”    

After six days of toil, the whale was finally on its way to the waste site where it was chopped up and buried.