Cape Town - Mystery shrouds the discovery of dead animals that washed up on Cayman Beach in Gordon’s Bay.
This comes after several dead piglets and calves washed up on the shores of the Helderberg beach at the weekend.
Nico van Niekerk, a resident of Gordon’s Bay, said he was strolling along the beach at about 11.30am on Friday when he made the discovery.
“I could see seven or eight. It was very weird to find dead piglets on the beach,” Van Niekerk said. “They must have washed down from the canal.”
The dead animals were collected by the Animal Welfare Society (AWS) Helderberg.
AWS Helderberg manager Julia Evans said they suspected that the piglets were from Vlakteplaas.
“There is some major work going on with the river that runs from that area down into the sea. So there are a lot of pigs, calves and goats out there,” Evans explained.
“I have had a call-out before with a sow that had given birth on the banks and the piglets landed in the water.”
She added: “My guess is that the same thing happened with the piglets. These were all newborns, because we have uplifted them.
“I suspect that they are coming from Vlakteplaas. It’s a suspicion, not a confirmed fact.”
Ward councillor Sean Stacey didn’t want to comment on the discovery, but claimed that the animals likely came from Vlakteplaas, upstream.
Stacey urged whoever discovered the animals to log a service request and the council would send the relevant officials to collect and dispose of the carcasses.
However, on Facebook, locals had their say regarding the discovery of the dead animals.
Gwyneth Bernstein said: “It’s sickening. Last week I saw pig remains on Bikini Beach in Gordon’s Bay.”
Myrna May wrote: “Maybe someone had a ritual? Chased the pigs into the sea … (It’s a) very strange scenario.”
Lisa Starr, founder of the Helderberg Ocean Awareness Movement, said it was sad to see the piglets’ bodies on the beach.
“They most likely washed down the Soet River or the channel that runs out at Cayman Beach.
“It looks like they may have been stillborn and were thrown into the river, sadly. It’s not nice to see at all, but unless you are vegetarian, this is what you eat,” Starr said.
Cape Argus