South African officials set fire to a 34-tonne whale carcass on Wednesday, sending white smoke into the air near Cape Town as spectators clambered over blubber-strewn rocks for a closer look, Reuters reported.
The dead southern right whale washed up onto the quiet Kommetjie beach, 40 km (25 miles) south of the country`s top tourist city nearly two weeks ago. Officials packed tons of wood and poured 80 litres of a petrol and diesel fuel mix over the decomposing 15 metre (47 foot) whale to spark a fire expected to burn for up to two days.
"The first prize would have been to leave it here to decompose but with residents nearby, and the smell," Robin Adams, operations manager for the Table Mountain National Park, told Reuters that wasn`t an option.
"The oil and fat seeping back into the sea was also attracting sharks," he said as a strong wind blew smoke away from adjacent homes.
Two hundred years ago, whale oil was the main source of fuel for lamps, which makes me think we are missing out on an important source of renewable energy. Yes, whale burning power stations, and if we run short of whales they can always burn Greenpeace activists. |