Rare humpback whale destroys nets of fishermen at Adafienu in Volta Region

Correspondence from Volta Region

Fishermen at Adafienu, a fishing community near Denu in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region in the early hours of Monday, September 21, 2020, brought ashore a giant creature which many believe is a humpback whale.

The creature has been killed with some of its parts; tail and wings already removed.

According to the owner of the fishing net that caught the said whale, Mr. Hundolo Agbedroga, he, together with few of his colleagues went to the sea at about 4 am to set a fishing net and returned. This, they did with hopes of catching their usual fishes which they sell right on the shore.

Mr. Hundolo continued that about 6:30 am, he was called and told via phone that his net has caught a huge creature for which reason he was needed at the shore.

He subsequently arrived at the shore and jumped into his canoe with few fishermen and set off to the place where he set his net at dawn.

“At 6 am, I was called and informed that a shark and whale has entered our net. By the time we took a canoe to the place, one of them had broken the net and escaped while the other could not escape as it got stuck in the net,” he told GhanaWeb’s correspondent who visited the shore.

When asked how he and his colleagues managed to pull the whale out of the sea, Mr. Hundolo said they used a big and long robe to tie the destroyed net and drove back to the shore. Pulling of the whale begun soon after they arrived at the shore from the waters.

“The net that it got stuck in was what we used a big and long robe to tie. So we just pulled it out of the water,” he was quoted as saying in his native Ewe.

Mr. Hundolo further stated that the cost of the destroyed net, which he said is an exotic one stands at GHS 6,500.00. He appealed to the public to come to his aid so that he can get a new net for his fishing business.

The whale, according to some fishermen who refused to speak to GhanaWeb on camera, will be left on the shore so that anyone interested in the meat can come and cut it. They further revealed to GhanaWeb that some people eat the meat so they will soon be trooping in for it.