A few weeks ago about 50 pilot whales beached on the coast near us on the Cape Peninsula. It was cold - our winter weather has settled in. One of the downsides of the ease of communication is that it went out on the local radio stations, hundreds of people flocked to watch. In their concern they tried to re float the whales as quickly as possible. The sad thing was that the experts on what to do arrived too late. The whales were being handled willy nilly by a well-meaning public. Unfortunately one has to get the lead whale in first - anyone who has seen "Whale Rider" will remember the agony of trying to identify the leader. Otherwise they just beach again. Eventually our heavy handed municipality or SanParks people stepped in. They shot the whales. The reverberation of those shots circled the world eliciting condemnation from nature afficionados from many countries. Too much done by most, too little done by those who had the power to make an informed decision. For purposes of convenience they slaughtered these beautiful mystical beasts.
