An injured and abandoned baby humpback whale was euthanized by wildlife officials Friday after veterinarians determined that it was too weak to survive on its own. The lost humpback whale calf swims north of Sydney Harbour in Australia on Wednesday. The 4.5-yard (4.5-meter)-long animal was guided close to the shore and could be seen thrashing underwater. Officials reached out to stroke the calf before others hoisted it onto a tarp. The whale was then pulled into a tent on the beach, and gray tarps were hung to cover the operation.
Sally Barnes, deputy director-general of the New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change, said the whale would be given a sedative to relax it and then a lethal dose of anesthetic. Eight maritime police boats patrolled the waters to keep the public and media from approaching. The plight of the whale calf, which Australians have named Colin, has dominated news coverage since Sunday, when it was first sighted and began trying to suckle from boats it apparently mistook for its mother. Officials believe that the 1- to 2-month-old calf was abandoned by its mother, possibly because it was ill. Wildlife officials said it appeared that the whale had also been attacked by a shark. It spent days among the yachts and other boats in the waters off north Sydney, swimming back to the boats each time officials lured it out to sea in the hope it would attach to a passing pod of humpback whales.
On Thursday, veterinarians and marine researchers who examined the whale found that its condition was getting worse and that euthanizing it was the most humane option. Officials had sought national and international advice on how to help the lost whale but that its condition had become too poor to treat. Some Australians have accused wildlife officials of not doing enough to help the calf and not trying to feed it. A few people designed feeding mechanisms, many gave advice, and some journeyed to Pittwater Inlet just to watch the lonely calf. On Thursday, Aboriginal whale whisperer Bunna Lawrie tried to soothe the listless animal. 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.
The humpbacks are on the return leg of an epic annual round trip from the Antarctic to tropical waters to breed, and they can be seen ploughing homewards not far off Sydney's beaches on most days. Experts say that the passing whales and Colin would have been able to communicate, but that the chance of him being adopted was always extremely slim. [End of report]
I know that it is a very sad news to hear. I am a huge animal lover, so I dont like it whenever I hear stories such as this. It is really sad that the whale had to be killed. I dont care what method they use to kill it, but I just feel very sad for the whale. I understand though the decision that the local authorities had to make. I dont think it was easy for them to come to the decision to have it euthanized. It was really weak and it was really in a lot of suffering, but my question now is that I am interested to know whether the authorities could have done more to ensure its survival. I did some research on humpback whale and I found out that the species will only feed rarely and opportunistically while in their wintering waters. It is an energetic feeder, taking krill and small schooling fish. Im sure the authorities could have feed the whale with those foods, but I am not sure why they have decided not to do so. They did however tried to reunite it with passing pods of humpback whales and even called the help of the army to help float Colin back out to sea, but unfortunately, it was to no avail. It was particularly important that the whale be reunited with its mother because it needed the daily 230 litres of mothers' milk which it would normally consume to survive.
That is why the authorities decided to euthanize the whale, saying that it was too weak to survive on its own. In my opinion, they should release the whale back into the ocean and let fate decides what is going to happen to it, instead of killing it. There might be some chance that it will be reunited with its mother or other pods of humpback but of course there is the danger that it will be harm by other creatures such as the sharks and that it will be too weak to defend for itself. Nevertheless, what is done cannot be undone and we have to live with the fact that Colin is no longer alive. The only positive thing that I could take from the experience is that at least it is not suffering anymore. I think at the same time, the whale was really fortunate to end up in Australia because if it had been seen in Japan, it would be dead a long time ago, because as you know, the Japanese people love to kill the whales for delicacies purposes. And sadly to say, the humpback whale, just like other large whale species still continues to be hunted for the whaling industry till today despite many calls to stop it.
I just hope that someday in the future, the hunting of the whales will be stop entirely because they are such a beautiful creature which deserve to live peacefully in the oceans. Humans are contributing to the declining population of the whales and I think it is about time that we stop doing so. The humpback whales for example is considered as an endangered species. Other factors that might contribute to the declining population of whales includes high seas driftnets, pollution and degradation of their habitat, all of which are cause by us humans too. So let us all work together to ensure the survival of the beautiful creature and make sure that it dont end up in the endangered list forever. As for Colin the baby humpback whale, I hope it is doing fine wherever he might be right now.
*The report was taken from Associated Press.
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