Whale Tale Dug Up

WHEN a dead sperm whale washed up on tiny Second Beach in Port St Johns during a massive Amaqirha ceremony by Xhosa sangomas 11 years ago, it caused such a big stir that people flocked from far and wide for weeks just to get their hands on a piece of the mythical creature from the deep.

“The news spread like wildfire, within hours people were there cutting bits off the whale,” longtime Second Beach resident Wayne Rohland recalled.

“The whale was seen by the people as extremely mystical and powerful, within three days parts were being sold by sangomas in Joburg.”

Attempts in August 1998 to dispose of the whale  proved fruitless as officials tried to drag it away and later burn it with tyres and petrol – before burying it about 40 metres from the water on the north side of the beach.

Rohland – who has lived a handful of metres from the beach for more than 30 years - described how attempts over several weeks in August 1998 to dispose of the whale remains proved fruitless as officials tried to drag it away and later burn it with tyres and petrol – before burying it near the blind Ntumbane about 40 metres from the water on the north side of the beach.

The beach burial was confirmed this week by several other locals.

“It was such a big thing, that people were still trying to cut off whale pieces and put out the flames at the same time,” Rohland explined.

Litres of oil from the split open head of the more than seven metre long whale were scooped out by residents. The beach - according to Rohland and others - was thick with a lard like slick of oil for weeks on end as the whale was hacked up.

“The bay was covered with sperm whale oil for weeks as it percolated into the sand. The water was so thick with blubber you could not even throw a lure,” Rohland recalled.

Although Second Beach has always been a “place of intrigue” for Xhosa sangomas for centuries and is used most weekends for traditional ceremonies, the arrival of the dead sperm whale – which is not usually even found off the Transkei coast - during one of the biggest gatherings by several prominent sangomas was extra significant.

“It happened during the biggest Amaqirha ceremony I have ever seen at Second Beach … people believed the whale was powerful muti.”

It was later claimed the sangomas had “called” the whale to the beach. “It happened during the biggest Amaqirha ceremony I have ever seen at Second Beach … people believed the whale was powerful muti.”

Although another long time resident, Kathryn Costello, also remembers the whale beaching incident she disagrees that the remains buried in the sand at Second Beach 11 years ago are the cause of shark attacks in the tiny bay.

“The beach has been through some really hectic storms in that time, some of them so intense that just about all the sand was washed away, leaving only rocks.”

Instead, she cited a lack of proper toilets and almost non existent sewerage infrastructure at the popular beach as possible causes. Three of the six deadly attacks have happened within two weeks of busy New Years day celebrations.

Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld marine mammals curator Greg Hofmeyer (SUBS: Corr) confirmed to the Dispatch that staffer Wendy Kant (SUBS: Corr) took samples from a sperm whale that washed up at Second Beach on 18 August 1998.

“Our records show that she was unable to get a length or other measurements due the state of dismemberment of the carcass. The only specimens collected were a few teeth, which we still have in our stores.”

Recalling the incident yesterday, Kant said by the time her team left Port St Johns there was not much whale left to bury.

It was absolute chaos, sangomas came from all over the country to get pieces of the whale which was all over the beach.

“It was absolute chaos, sangomas came from all over the country to get pieces of the whale which was all over the beach. People were loading BMWs and other fancy cars with buckets of oil and whale meat.”

Although there have been 23 recorded sperm whale strandings in the Eastern Cape since 1968, Hofmeyer said it was “still unusual for them to be seen near our coast, let alone strand here.”