WATCH: Sharks feed off whale carcass in Umhlanga
Swimming has been temporarily banned at beaches in Umhlanga after sharks were spotted feeding on a whale carcass between Bronze Beach and the lighthouse.
Vinayak Maharaj, a dive instructor from Umhlanga Scuba, captured a video of what he described as a feeding frenzy.
"When I saw the carcass of this whale, we circled it, and then after that, we saw the number of sharks, black tips, white tips, bull sharks, tigers - it was a feeding frenzy, and after that, the stench was just too much, and we came back to shore."
Wayne Harrison, who's with the KZN Sharks Board as acting operation manager, says the humpback, spotted on Tuesday, seems to have broken up into pieces.
He says its buoyancy is due to its blubber.
"They attract a lot of marine life. You have your main predators like Zambezi shark, great whites and tiger sharks feasting off it. Bathing has been banned because of the predators that have been feeding off of it and the predictors that are in the nearby vicinity."
Harrison says they have already spoken to the relevant authorities to remove the whale carcass, which won't be an easy job.
He says while it is a spectacular sight, he's asked people going to the beach to be careful.
"Don't enter into the water. I have personally witnessed on previous occasions where the sharks basically roll in the shore feasting on whales."
