Misty the Whale

Misty, the 18 metre southern right whale, was killed in a collision with a container ship near Scarborough Point in the Cape in July 1996.

When she was discovered, on the shore at Scarborough, she created great public interest. Decomposition soon set in and her rotting 70 ton body quickly became a great source of controversy amongst the locals. It was finally decided to remove the rotting flesh in order to preserve the skeleton.

A taxidermist, two assistants and eight workers removed the layers of rotting blubber. The Marine Environmental Education (MEET) was formed, and became the proud owner of Misty.

Lachlan Matthews of Lamberts Bay very painstakingly reconstructed the skeleton and she soon began to thrill visitors to the Copes Mall in Hermanus. She later spent three years at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. In March 2004, she was very carefully dismantled and was brought by road to Durban where, bone by bone, she was reassembled.