[VIA]
The Kommetjie false killer whale tragedy a few short weeks ago made headlines all over the country and even across the world, and it doesn’t surprise me that Sea Shepherd have spoken out about this disaster.
My Sea Shepherd e-news arrived this morning, and one of the main articles was a call to boycott South African wines until MCM (Marine and Coastal Management) head honcho Mike Meyers handed in his resignation for ordering the ‘euthanasia’ of over 40 of the stranded whales – in front of hundreds of volunteers, children and media no less.
Captain Paul Watson describes Meyers as ‘the Butcher of Kommetjie Beach’ and has some pretty hectic things to say about MCM as well as Meyers. Labeling the MCM as ‘a disgrace to the nation of South Africa’ and Mike Meyers as ‘a disgrace to the human race’, and pointing out the fact that Meyers is not in fact a scientist or even a marine biologist, and pointing out some of the MCM’s similar ‘resolutions’ to strandings, one has to admit that Watson has a point.
And having come across this typical government-minded attitude myself more than a few times during my time at the aquarium, I think it’s about time some sort of changes were made. Injured and stranded seals were something we had to deal with on a fairly regular basis at the aquarium, as worried members of the public were always ringing us or arriving at the front desk with reports of seals with plastic bags stuck around their necks, or worse – pitching up with abandoned seal pups. The MCM were notorious for not wanting to get involved, and invariably we had to call the SPCA who would either put the seal down or try and do what they could to rescue them.
At the end of the day, Mike Meyers is a government worker and the MCM is a government department. And as such, it has everything to do with bureaucracy and ‘procedures’ and not much to do with saving our oceans. Who knows, maybe international pressure will see some changes, but considering how long Meyers has been in charge, and knowing how the MCM works, I’m just not so sure.
Whatever the case, it’s awesome to see Sea Shepherd taking up this issue – they also have a report on the shark nets in KZN which is also worth a read, check out the Shark Angels campaign for more info.
Award winner
The department said Meyer was a Derek Krige medallist, an award granted by the marine scientific community for lifetime achievements in technical aspects of marine science.
“He has more than 30 years experience in working with marine mammals, including whales, and is by far the most experienced person able to assess situations such as these,” the department said.
After the beaching of the whales on Saturday, Meyer was given “full authority” by the department to take decisions on how to deal with the stranded animals.
The accepted procedure in these cases was that Meyer consults the SPCA and a veterinarian on decisions that may need to be taken on euthanasia.
“This procedure was followed in this case.”
Struggled all day to save animals
Other role-players included the University of Pretoria’s Mammal Research Institute, the navy, SPCA, police, law enforcement, NSRI, and the city’s Disaster Management and environment units.
“After an entire day of struggling to save the animals under very difficult conditions, by which time five had already died, a collaborative consensus was reached by the relevant role-players that the rest of the mammals were also doomed and that they would suffer unnecessarily if not euthanised.
“The marine and coastal management fully supports Meyer and believes he acted in the best interest of the mammals, and within his mandate.”
The department said it was criticised by some people for waiting “too long” before putting the animals out of their misery.
The department began with post mortems on the 44 whales on Monday
Thanks chick.
I know it’s six of one and half a dozen of another, and it’s never as simple as it seems. It was a unified decision, but nevertheless it wasn’t managed as well as it should have been – if they had carried things out in a more ethical manner, and had at least warned volunteers or explained what was going on, things may not have been such a mess.
MCM is still a government department though, and awarded as Meyer be, I think things could have at least been handled with a bit more sensitivity.