Whale calf to be euthanised

[livinoz]

"Colin" the humpback whale calf stranded in Pittwater Sydney for the last few days, and using a yacht as a substitute "mother", is to be euthanised tonight

Vets found that he had numerous injuries, possibly from a shark attack, and is getting weaker and not likely to survive until tomorrow.

This is nature working in it's usual way, and I know there are far worse things going on in the world, but this story has made me quite sad.

 

[fairybasslet]

Poor little thing.

 

[Standingbear56]

I don't understand why an aquarium can't take him. It's been done before, and in a more controlled environment, who knows?
Poor little fella!

George

 

[cruiser]

That's so sad, and no telling what happened to its mom. Maybe killed or just got separated.

 

[livewire]

This is a sad story indeed. Unfortunately, while bringing a large whale like this to an aquarium has been successful in at least one other case in San Diego, it isn't such an easy task to bring in, provide space, and feed a 2-ton baby. It may be that resources simply aren't available. Wow, I do feel so bad for that guy suckling boats in frustration. He must miss the other whales so much.

 

[DavidPT40]

Transporting even healthy marine mammals is risky and some do die. The stress of moving this whale would probably kill it.

 

[almitywife]

I don't understand why an aquarium can't take him. It's been done before, and in a more controlled environment, who knows?
Poor little fella!

the "little" fella was actually a girl (renamed Collette) and was already 4.5mtrs 13ft long and our sydney aquarium barely has room for 6 seals let alone a whale

even if we were able to feed it, then what? in a years time the animal would need to be eating a tonne of krill each day, do we ship live krill in from the antartic daily? how do we teach the animal how to hunt and communitcate?

of course - this doesnt excuse the powers to be for dithering over this l ike a bunch of old women wringing their hands. this creature was put thru unnecessary trauma by their incompetance and shame on them for that

on a side note, the suspect Collettes mum was a dead whale found further south

as much as i would have loved a happy ending, it just was never going to happen and yes, i think as a community we are poorer because we can put a man on the moon but we cant save one gentle creature that was befriended by so many

 

[fairybasslet]

i think as a community we are poorer because we can put a man on the moon but we cant save one gentle creature that was befriended by so many

Well said, Lorraine.

I'm not sure what happened lately, but there was a pod of dolphins stuck in a river in NJ and they wouldn't go out to sea. Talk about dithering around and wringing hands. They were going to try to herd them (if that's the right word) out to sea, then decided against it. Then some boater yahoos started harassing them. I'll have to do a search to see the latest news.

 

[Standingbear56]

the "little" fella was actually a girl (renamed Collette) and was already 4.5mtrs 13ft long and our sydney aquarium barely has room for 6 seals let alone a whale

even if we were able to feed it, then what? in a years time the animal would need to be eating a tonne of krill each day, do we ship live krill in from the antartic daily? how do we teach the animal how to hunt and communitcate?

of course - this doesnt excuse the powers to be for dithering over this l ike a bunch of old women wringing their hands. this creature was put thru unnecessary trauma by their incompetance and shame on them for that

on a side note, the suspect Collettes mum was a dead whale found further south

as much as i would have loved a happy ending, it just was never going to happen and yes, i think as a community we are poorer because we can put a man on the moon but we cant save one gentle creature that was befriended by so many

OOPS, sorry about the gender confusion, didn't mean to add insult to injury. On the other hand, I agree with you totally about the lack of action. It's just a sad state of affairs.
Safe diving,
George

 

[livinoz]

I agree with everyone that this was upsetting and I hope we can learn something from it. But let's not forget that the calf was only about 2 or 3 weeks old, that it needed to be fed exclusively on its mother’s milk for another 10 months, that no-one has yet come up with a suitable formula, and that there was no guarantee that "Colette" would suckle from a makeshift teat anyway. A whale expert was flown to Sydney, and NPWS officials got information from all over the world, but most agreed there was little that could be done. I also think it is easy for the protesters at Pittwater to sit back and say something should be done, less easy for those who have to make the decisions and find solutions that will work. The calf was obviously injured, starving and suffering, and although I found the whole thing very upsetting, I think the humane thing was done.

Also, just to add, an adult whale carcass has been seen in waters nearby. The wildlife people hope to gather some DNA to see if this was the calf's mother and find out if that was why she was abandoned.