Newborn Bryde’s whale stranding at Cebe, Wild Coast

The museum was contacted by BCMM official Siani Tinley and holiday maker Ryan Blane regarding a whale stranding at Cebe on the Wild Coast (Tuesday 27 June 2023).

Ryan sent through photos of the stranding which happened during the afternoon of the 27th June 2023.

The stranding took place at a reasonably isolated part of the Wild Coast and the length estimate for the animal was approximately 4 m. This measurement and the photos helped museum scientist Kevin Cole to identify the cetacean as a neonate Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera brydei). The is a first record of a newborn of the species for the past decades to strand in the region.

Ryan Blane (pictured above) further reported that the whale was alive when it came ashore. This was disturbing news for the museum as it was too late in the day to mobilise and travel to the site to consider the option of euthanasia. There was also the prediction of an unusually high tide for later in the evening (the animal may be moved back out to sea).

It was suggested to Ryan to monitor the animal and report back the following morning. When asked of the chances of survival Kevin replied ‘sadly not – by the time we mobilise the weight on the internal organs will have negatively impacted on the chance to survive’. Sadly it died overnight.

Clues used to confirm the identification were:

• the length (size at birth 3.81 – 3.96 m)
• two ridges running along either side of the rostrum (illustrated below)
• throat grooves which extend as far back as the navel with a single groove running between the navel and the genital aperture (illustrated below)
• narrow and pointed flippers

Adult length for the inshore Bryde’s whale in southern African waters is reached between 12.8 – 13.1 m for males and 13.7 – 14 m for females. Each series of baleen (upper jaw) carries 276 – 289 plates of which the largest can grow to a length of 40 cm. The illustration below shows the baleen plates on the upper left jaw of the stranded animal. These whales do not undertake feeding migrations south to the Antarctic like the humpback and southern right whales. They feed on pelagic schooling fish and larger plankton.

Gestation for the species is between 11 – 12 months and calves are weaned at 6 months. Lifespan for the Bryde’s whale is unknown.

References:

Whales Dolphins and Seals. A Field Guide to the Marine Mammals of thew World by Hadoram Shirihai and Brett Jarrett

Whales and Dolphins of the Southern African Subregion by Peter B. Best