08/19/2008
Humpback Whale Calf Thinks Yacht is its Mother
A troubling situation for this young humpback:
"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. 'It's very young, it still needs milk,' a National Parks spokesman told Sydney's Daily Telegraph. 'It's a very sad situation. Without its mother at suckling age, we are very concerned. There's no guarantee another pod will have a lactating mother and no guarantee it will accept it.' The calf appears exhausted but rescuers hope it will continue out to sea and search for its mother or another pod of whales."
Posted 10:30 AM EST by Andy Towle in Australia, Nature, News | Permalink
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Fascinating. But ultimately sad.
Posted by: crispy | Aug 19, 2008 10:55:31 AM
I agree with Crispy. I really hope it finds a mom or humans brainstorm a solution.
Posted by: soulbrotha | Aug 19, 2008 12:33:25 PM
Dude—please, no more sad animal stories. I'm having a tough enough day as it is.
Posted by: Don | Aug 19, 2008 1:04:02 PM
NO! Keep posting the sad animal stories. Maybe we humans will finally start taking responsible action for the messes we make. And, yes...it may be a stretch but somehow I'm sure we can trace the blame for this boat-adoption to the changes we've made in the environment. Er, at least, that's what my bleeding liberal heart tells me. ;)
Posted by: J.P. | Aug 19, 2008 1:56:37 PM
Looks like they used the yacht to lure him out to the sea, but he came back, looking for Mama. I hope he either finds his mom or at least a good substitute. Animal stories are good. They are a bit more "real" than reading about whom is sleeping with whom and stuff like that...
=(
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/08/19/baby-whale-yacht.html
Posted by: Timothy Latz | Aug 19, 2008 4:48:59 PM
After several attempts "Colin" (turned out to be "Collette") had to be euthanasied. A large dead female was found on the sth of Sydney being eaten by sharks a few days later. Guessing it may have been her Mum.
Posted by: Ian | Sep 3, 2008 7:24:25 PM