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dead right whale south africa

Dead Right Whale Found on South African Beach

Rob Almeida
Total Views: 67
May 11, 2014

A dead Southern Atlantic right whale was discovered on Sunset Beach near Cape Town, South Africa on Saturday.

During the southern hemisphere’s winter months these whales arrive off South Africa to calve and mate.  The global population of the Southern Atlantic right whale is around 10,000 according to a 2008 study by the National Geographic Society.

Although a ban on the hunting of the right whale has been illegal since 1937, tragically fewer than 300 Northern Atlantic right whales are estimated to still exist.  In the decades that followed the ban, right whales continued to be hunted by poachers and accidentally killed by merchant and naval vessels.  Scientists estimate population extinction of the Northern Atlantic right whale to occur in the next 190 years.

dead right whale south africa
Image via Jason Miller/Facebook
dead right whale south africa
Image via Jason Miller/Facebook

While trying to remove the whale from the beach, the tow doesn’t exactly go as-planned…

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