Abandoned Baby Whale To Be Euthanized

Australian Humpback Mistaking Boats For Its Mother Badly Injured From Likely Shark Attack

(AP)  An abandoned baby whale that has been attempting to suckle boats in the waters off north Sydney will be euthanized because it is in such poor condition, an environmental official said Thursday.

Veterinarians and marine researchers who spent the afternoon examining the whale found that it would likely not live through the night, said Sally Barnes, deputy director-general of the New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change.

"The calf was in much worse condition than they originally thought and the injuries were a lot worse than they thought as well, probably from a shark attack," she said. "We have taken the hard decision to put it down, unfortunately."

The plight of the whale, which Australians have nicknamed "Colin," has dominated news coverage here since it was first sighted Sunday and began trying to suckle from boats it apparently mistook for its mother.

"Our hearts are breaking with what's happening with baby Colin," New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma said. "It's looking bleak, but every effort is being made."

One effort came from Aboriginal whale whisperer Bunna Lawrie, who visited the calf Thursday afternoon. Adorned with feathers on his head and white paint markings on his face, Lawrie reached into the water to stroke Colin while singing a humming, tongue-rolling tune.

But after a few minutes the whale swam away to nuzzle a nearby yacht.

"He's missing the big fellas," said Lawrie, whose visit was broadcast on Channel 10 television.

The decision to euthanize the whale prompted a strong protest from a rescue group that designed a feeding apparatus intended to provide milk to the ailing calf.

"You said you'd give us a 24-hour stay of execution!" Brett Devine, a member of Devine Marine Group, shouted as environmental officials tried to calm him.

Some Australians have accused wildlife officials of not doing enough to help the calf or trying to feed it.

Previous attempts to guide the whale back to open waters have failed, with the creature preferring to stick close to the boats. Officials with the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service were considering earlier Thursday whether to use an inflatable sling to tow the creature into deeper waters, where it has a better chance of connecting with other whales.

But in the end, there simply was no other option, a grim-looking Barnes said.

"This is certainly not what we would have hoped. We would have hoped that the animal would have been OK," Barnes said. "It's a very emotional thing."

As darkness fell, wildlife officials and veterinarians huddled in a private meeting to work out the logistics of the whale's fate.

They planned to sedate the animal, tow it to shore, and inject a dose of fatal drugs into its heart.

[grammawhamma]

We all die,every creature,every organism,Kansas1946 is very correct. People who profess to only love people and the heck with everything else do not really care.they are like glass, aflat onesided plane. people who love all life,are like a prism,sending out rays of light everywhere.I can cry at the death of a bird just as much as I can cry over the loss of a friend. It is the loss of something special that touches me ...life -----------------

Posted by lovesamerica at 09:18 PM : Aug 21, 2008

That was a beautiful post!!

[lovesamerica]

do you know how big a whale is?

[toldyouso12]

Why not put it into an Aquarium? Surely Australia has those? What do they do with other baby whales who are orphaned?

[tothestars2]

They should just let nature take its course.

Talking about euthanasia, George W Bush has been euthanizing the US economy for the past eight years and it looks like he might just do it before he leaves office!


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Posted by jerr11 at 06:42 PM : Aug 21, 2008


You jacka..''s can find a reason anywhere to make things political. What a tool.

[lovesamerica]

We all die,every creature,every organism,Kansas1946 is very correct. People who profess to only love people and the heck with everything else do not really care.they are like glass, aflat onesided plane. people who love all life,are like a prism,sending out rays of light everywhere.I can cry at the death of a bird just as much as I can cry over the loss of a friend. It is the loss of something special that touches me ...life

[kansas1946]

Some of you are nuts it is a Whale not a human this is how nature works.

Stop worring about this animal it will not make it through tomorrow. But children all over the world are dying because nut jobs like you. And they could be saved.


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Posted by antoniof123 at 03:30 PM : Aug 21, 2008
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Empathy in children usually begins with animals and progresses to empathy for humans. Humans are intellegent enough to want to help, especially if directly presented with suffering. There are thousands of people trying to help those children that you speak of, but their dying is also how "nature works." Children will always die as will whales, but that doesn''t mean we can''t try to help and if all else fails, at least try and reduce and shorten suffering.

[lovesamerica]

poor whale. death of any creature natural or not is sad.I am glad they at least let us know the outcome. They will not,I don''t think, be able to just let it sink in the ocean,as the chemicals to kill it may harm other species feeding off of it. Hopefully they can use it as research and the Japanese can kill one less this year. I hope there is a heaven for whales...

[gmond]

poor baby

[jerr11]

They should just let nature take its course.

Talking about euthanasia, George W Bush has been euthanizing the US economy for the past eight years and it looks like he might just do it before he leaves office!

[rosieod4prez]

I''m surprised Obama didn''t use it for defending his abortion stance.