Lost whale calf bonds with yacht, tries to suckle

SYDNEY, Australia - Australian media say a lost humpback whale calf has bonded with a yacht it seems to think is its mother.

The 1- to 2-month-old calf was first sighted Sunday in waters off north Sydney, and on Monday tried to suckle from a yacht, which it would not leave.

Rescuers towed the yacht out to sea, and the calf finally detached from the boat but still swam nearby, Australian Broadcasting Corp. and Channel 10 television news reported.

The calf appears exhausted but rescuers hope it will continue out to sea and search for its mother or another pod of whales.

“The outlook is not good, but we are giving the calf its only option. It can’t be fed, and in fact we wouldn’t know what to feed it” because it is not weaned, National Parks and Wildlife regional manager Chris McIntosh told ABC radio.

Not looking good.

I was tempted to post this a few hours ago.

I think the calf will be fine. As long as humans do not interfere any further.

Instinct ought to take over. Many Babies can survive without a mother, especially in the sea.

Any further interference may confuse it more….

DJ_Canada - 18 August 2008 08:01 PM

I think the calf will be fine. As long as humans do not interfere any further.

Humans didn’t interfere to begin with.

Instinct ought to take over. Many Babies can survive without a mother, especially in the sea.

How is that going to happened?  It’s not weaned, so it’s instinct is to suckle it’s mother.  Which is why it was trying to suckle a boat.  That was its instinct.

Any further interference may confuse it more….

Again, there wasn’t initial interference.  There’s not any current interference.  Unless you want to count moving the boat that the baby whale became attached to out to sea to give it a chance at survival by hopefully finding other whales as “interference”.

Tah is right.  The calf equates to a human baby not yet on formula but still breast-feeding.  When you hold a human baby under these conditions it will instinctively rotate his/her head toward the chest of the holder seeking the breast that will give it food.  If no breast milk is forthcoming and none provided over time, or a reasonable facsimile, the infant will die.

The mother may be close and listening for her calf’s cry and will be able to get to it in time.  The calf will ‘cry’ though and perhaps, if the mother is not available, another who has a calf of her own may be able to nurse this one as well IF the calf and possible adoptive mother meet in time. 

I am very fearful for this little one.

Yeah, I saw this yesterday, and think it’s very sad.  I don’t like the whale’s chance for survival.

Tah - 18 August 2008 09:23 PM

DJ_Canada - 18 August 2008 08:01 PM

I think the calf will be fine. As long as humans do not interfere any further.

Humans didn’t interfere to begin with.

Not wittingly.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/08/20/baby.whale/index.html

Abandoned baby whale might be put to death

An abandoned baby whale that has been trying to suckle from yachts in an Australian harbor appeared to be weakening Wednesday as wildlife workers considered ways to save it.

Unless rescue workers can come up with a plan soon, the starving 2-week-old calf might have to be put to death, officials said.

“It’s a really sad and difficult situation,“ said a spokeswoman for the New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC), who spoke on condition of anonymity, as is customary.

“It’s caught the heart of Australians, and at the moment the public is really, really desperately wanting something to save the whale.“

Humpback whales are in the middle of their annual migration from the Antarctic to tropical waters to breed and then back again.

The calf was first spotted Sunday in waters off Sydney. Officials think it most likely was abandoned by its mother but aren’t sure why.

On Monday, it was seen nuzzling up to a moored vessel in an attempt to find milk, the DECC said.

Wildlife officials towed the boat out to sea, and the calf followed. They had hoped that the baby would link up with a passing group of humpback whales.

But the calf, unable to find its mother or another lactating female willing to be a surrogate, returned to the harbor Tuesday.

On Wednesday, officials tried once again to lure the calf to open waters. But it refused to follow the wildlife officials’ boat.

“It obviously feels very secure in the harbor,“ the spokeswoman said.

An expert from Sydney’s Taronga Zoo examined the whale and determined that while it was not suffering undue stress, it was getting weaker due to lack of food.

Now officials are hoping to use an inflatable sling to tow the calf farther out to sea, where it stands a greater chance of being reunited with its mother.

“Maybe—just maybe—we will have some luck,“ the spokeswoman said. “It is possible—it might not be probable—but it’s possible that it could be picked up and adopted.“

Some Australians have suggested that wildlife officials take the animal into captivity, but that is unlikely to yield results, said Chris McIntosh of the National Parks and Wildlife Services.

“As the calf is still being breast fed, we have no way of feeding or socializing it,“ McIntosh said in a news release. “So taking this humpback into captivity is not an option.“

Calves suckle for 11 months and are “very very attached to their mothers,“ the spokeswoman said.

“Unless it can go out to open water and find a mother, I don’t really know what’s going to happen.“

Whale has been put down, amid protests.

A HUMPBACK whale calf, abandoned and starving to death in shallow waters in Sydney’s north, was put down yesterday amid a chorus of complaints about its treatment.

Whale lovers have labelled the killing of the whale—initially nicknamed Colin but later renamed Collette after it was found to be female—a “pre-programmed slaughter”, saying the animal thrashed about in distress before it was killed.

“(She) actively started trying to get away,“ nearby resident Cherie Curchod said. “Then they dragged it to a closed tent and all the while they dragged it, it was flapping its tail, blowing out of its head and moving and trying to get away. It was so upsetting because euthanasia is meant to be an easy death and that whale did not have an easy death at all.“

The baby whale was found motherless and starving on Sunday in The Basin, inside Pittwater on Sydney’s northern beaches, nuzzling yachts in search of her missing mother.

She returned again on Tuesday having been lured out to sea, and authorities opted against making another attempt to shepherd the 4.5m calf back into open waters.

Animal welfare groups responded to the criticism yesterday, saying they were satisfied with the way the abandoned calf was put down.

RSPCA spokesman Steve Coleman said his organisation had backed the National Parks and Wildlife Service’s decision to kill the whale.

“To destroy an animal of this size is never an easy task,“ Mr Coleman said. “What had to be done was done. This animal is no longer suffering.“

NSW NPWS director Sally Barnes said the operation was done in a “peaceful and dignified” way. She said efforts were being made to obtain a DNA sample of an adult whale carcass found off Eden on the NSW-Victoria border to determine whether it was the calf’s mother.

Wildlife experts used ropes to tow the juvenile 300m to the shore where it was given two lethal injections under the cover of a tent.

An autopsy of the whale is being carried out at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.

The baby whale was found motherless and starving on Sunday

...it was given two lethal injections under the cover of a tent.

An autopsy of the whale is being carried out at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.

OK…..

Seems more like a dissection than an autopsy…

DJ_Canada - 22 August 2008 07:57 PM

The baby whale was found motherless and starving on Sunday

...it was given two lethal injections under the cover of a tent.

An autopsy of the whale is being carried out at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.

OK…..

Seems more like a dissection than an autopsy…

Umm. . .it’s dead, and they’re doing a medical exam on it.  That’s an autopsy.  As opposed to a biopsy.

So sad but they did the right thing.
They need to learn that you cant save everything…
reminds me of dash….

Isn’t it a necropsy?