Abandoned Baby Whale Only Has Days To Live

If Calf Can't Find Surrogate Mother Soon, Australian Scientist Says It Will Die

(AP)  A hungry and abandoned humpback whale calf that has been trying to suckle from boats in the waters off north Sydney rebuffed fresh attempts by wildlife workers to return it to the open ocean Wednesday and appeared to be weakening.

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 boat out to sea Monday and the calf finally detached from it - but the creature returned to an inlet near Sydney on Tuesday.

A second attempt to lure the whale out to sea Wednesday also failed, with the calf refusing to follow the wildlife officials' boat, a spokeswoman for the Department of Environment and Climate Change said.

Unless the whale finds a lactating female to accept it, it will die - probably within days, said the spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as is customary.

"We haven't given up on the whale, but he does appear to be weaker than he was yesterday," she said.

An expert from Sydney's Taronga Zoo was examining the whale to assess its health.

On Wednesday morning, another yachtsman reported seeing the calf attempt to suckle his boat and two others.

"It sounded like a bit of a vacuum cleaner on the bottom of the boat. I finally got up and here's this whale suckling the side of the boat," Peter Lewis told Fairfax Radio Network. "It was a very, very sad sight. It did it for about an hour, going from side to side on the boat and at times blowing air under the boat, and it just seemed to give a sigh out at one stage as if, you know, 'this isn't working."'

One Australian scientist suggested an artificial teat be constructed in order to feed formula to the whale, but environmental officials dismissed that as virtually impossible.

"They suckle for 11 or 12 months, so it's a long time - we'd just agree it'd be very difficult," the environmental spokeswoman said. "We think it really needs to find its mother or foster mother and those are really the only chances."

[grammawhamma]

One Australian scientist suggested an artificial teat be constructed in order to feed formula to the whale, but environmental officials dismissed that as virtually impossible.
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I don''t think it would have been impossible...they should have tried it!!

Now I heard they euthanized the baby whale. Such a sad story. But it''s better than letting it just slowly starve to death.

[avigil2]

I don''''t know why they don''''t try to get it into a net or some type of canvas tarp where it could be lifted out of the water and taken to marine facility where it could be nursed until it is old enough to release.

posted by Wineberry

There''s no way to hold one of these great humpback whales in captivity. They''ll out grow the pool in a matter of weeks. Then what? Not a good idea. I hope this calf survives by some miracle that it deservedly needs.

[blackyowe]

-So heart breaking. I raise baby lambs many years and its not even easy. A whale is really a sad case!

[oneworldusa]

I would think science is advanced enough to at least try to save this baby whale.

But if not, I''m torn. Let it suffer from starvation (nature) or put it out of its misery. Those are the only choices? If so, I''d say gently put it out of misery if there is truly no chance of survival.

[rwsmith29456]

Losing a baby anything that depends on it''s mother is saddening. There is a story about a mother gorilla in the news that lost her baby and won''t let it go. I''m not one to say that animals don''t have emotions.

[lovesamerica]

All life is precious, whether it is the 1 child out of 50million, or the 1 baby whale,one out of a hundred

[wineberry]

I don''t know why they don''t try to get it into a net or some type of canvas tarp where it could be lifted out of the water and taken to marine facility where it could be nursed until it is old enough to release. If the mother is alive there is no guarantee that she would accept it back, that is if she did not abandon it in the first place, and it''s a 50% chance that a foster mother would accept it. In the open ocean on its own it is prey to Killer Whales and sharks. Truely sad that it''s trying to suckle on that boat for milk, and very frustrating to it that there is none there. I pray God will help and it lives.

[mawskrat]

It''s sad thing...save the baby humans first

[incog-nito]

It''s a crazy idea, but maybe they can get a big hose and spray milk into the whale''s mouth or something.

[lovesamerica]

If it dies, I hope they can save its body so that one less of these majestic creatures needs to be killed for ''research''

[lovesamerica]

Sad sad sad. It breaks my heart,while it is nature,it still breaks my heart.

[hls1950]

I will hope that jlc39 is right and that some how they can save this baby whale. It is very sad, and if anyone can joke about this they are in need of prayer.

[hls1950]

I will hope that jlc39 is right and that some how they can save this baby whale. It is very sad, and if anyone can joke about this they are in need of prayer.

[hls1950]

I will hope that jlc39 is right and that some how they can save this baby whale. It is very sad, and if anyone can joke about this they are in need of prayer.

[hls1950]

I will hope that jlc39 is right and that some how they can save this baby whale. It is very sad, and if anyone can joke about this they are in need of prayer.

[yongamerica]

I can''t believe that not concerned scientist hasn''t a good guess what formula to give the baby whale. Here is a rare chance to expand the knowledge of infant whales and the Aussies are going to make a turkey shoot out of it.

I remember reading about a study of whales milk and how rich it is in fats. Now if only one of those blokes had read the same article.

[hls1950]

I will hope that jlc39 is right and that some how they can save this baby whale. It is very sad, and if anyone can joke about this they are in need of prayer.

[ichabod57]

Must be a light news day.

[itgranny]

Sounds like nobody has a very good plan for this little fellow. IF they can''t figure out how to feed him and if they can''t find a cow that''s got milk and willing to take him in they need to put him down. Letting him starve to death is unbelievably cruel.

[jlc39]

I''m sure that they''ve thought of this but isn''t there a chance that a marine aquarium park or zoo somewhere that could have a nursing hump-back cow? I''m sure that with the multitude of animal rights groups, ecologists, and environmental protection groups out there, someone would poney up the money necessary to transport the calf to a place that it would have a chance for survival.