BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Feb. 10.2018 – THERE were frantic scenes in Indian Castle, Nevis today as officials and concerned citizens worked assiduously to get nine beached whales back in the sea.
According to Minister, Eric Evelyn, the whales washed ashore this morning.
“Quite a number of the whales were actually alive, however, a few of the guys were trying to refloat the whales and it was unsuccessful because the seas are extremely rough at the moment.”
He reminded that a similar situation occurred last year, but at that time approximately three whales came ashore – about two miles from the current location.
Evelyn said he wasn’t sure what brought the whales in but indicated that after consulting with fishermen and others in the area, a decision was made to save those that were still alive.
That resulted in officials contacting persons with trucks, cranes and other heavy-duty equipment to have them placed in the sea.
He noted that fishermen had raised concerns about leaving the dead whales on the shoreline, because that can lead to an infestation of sharks in the area.
“We were able to mobilise heavy equipment persons to come and move those that were dead and try to refloat those that seemed to have a lot of life in them.”
He explained that after consulting, a determination was made to have the whales be removed to the Long Point area.
