Abandoned whale calf to be put down
Posted
Updated
Starving: The whale calf has tried to suckle boats after being separated from its mother (ABC)
Wildlife authorities say the operation to put baby whale 'Colin' down is currently under way off Sydney's northern beaches.
The baby humpback was discovered on Monday in Pittwater after being abandoned by its mother.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service says veterinary experts and animal protection groups have agreed that the calf should be euthanased as soon as possible.
The calf was found this morning andf experts are now working to put it down.
A spokesman for the Service, John Dengate, says the decision was made after the animal's condition deteriorated quickly on Thursday afternoon.
"He's taken a really serious turn for the worse just now," he said.
"The vets have had a look, they've said he's having breathing difficulties, his flippers are at an unusual angle, he's not going to last much longer, you should put him down."
He says it was a difficult decision to make.
"The whole issue's been quite harrowing, not only for our staff but for the community in general, where people have really been concerned about this whale," he said.
"They've said to us, 'can't you do this, can't you do that'. We've tried really hard to follow every bit of advice that's come through."
Search for news
Comments (62)
Comments for this story are closed. No new comments can be added. If you would like to have your say on this issue, you can do so via the Emails section of our Opinion pages.
-
Roland:
22 Aug 2008 7:29:13am
may it be swift and painless...
Agree (1) Alert moderator
-
Thalia in Glebe:
22 Aug 2008 9:25:35am
Goodbye little buddy. Floods of tears in our house this morning over the most tragic, heart-rending story of the year. Just seeing your sad pleading eyes looking up at us all for help and understanding... even as I write this the tears are starting again.
Surely we can all raise the money to start a whale sanctuary for rest and repair of these intelligent and wonderous creatures. Humans have so much to learn from their loving, caring ways.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
Tim:
22 Aug 2008 7:31:00am
Why don't they get a big bottle and stick it on the bottom of the boats its trying to suckle?
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
uiua:
22 Aug 2008 8:05:14am
Because (according to this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7573838.stm) the calf needs up to 230 litres of milk per day. It really is a huge amount. A tough decision, but humans can only help so far.
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
JC:
22 Aug 2008 7:33:11am
We take the Japanese to task over the senseless slaughter of whales and yet was does the NPWS want to do? This is a shameful situation. All avenues for rescue should have been exhausted before such a decision was taken. Volunteers, as always, were at the ready to do something but for bloody minded govt departments. SHAME!!
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
dragon:
22 Aug 2008 7:52:39am
I think all avenues have been considered and this is obviously the most humane. I don't think a decision to euthanase something as iconic as a baby humpback was taken lightly and hopefully there will be no pain involved.
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Dresden:
22 Aug 2008 8:21:08am
The American's were successful in saving a calf. I'm not an expert but could it be that Australia typically does not have the expertise, confidence or willingness to back ourselves and do all that we can. There seemed to be a lot of time wasting and contemplation rather than action. I get the impression that putting the animal down is simply the easiest and cheapest option. I stand to be corrected.
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Uncle Bill:
22 Aug 2008 8:42:27am
"Australia typically does not have the expertise, confidence or willingness to back ourselves and do all that we can". How can make such a comment? Australia's confidence and willingness to back ourselves has been proven again and again over many years. I suggest you read some of Australia's military, medical and sporting history before you go and bag this nation. By the way what have you done to contribute?
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Water:
22 Aug 2008 8:50:10am
Yeah we called the only people in the world who have successfully weened a baby whale calf in San Diageo and they said that nothing could be done. You have a heap of international experts telling you it can't be done, including people who have done it before. Yet you still think that you are correct and they are wrong, how?
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Dresden:
22 Aug 2008 9:13:33am
And they said the Titanic couldn't sink. Singapore would never fall. Man would never travel at the speed of sound. Give me a break guys. I'm a patriotic Aussie and I'm speaking of the whale not military history. Please don't give me your defeatist attitudes. I just wish as a country we would be leaders on something instead of followers. So the experts say it can't be done, why don't we get out there and prove them wrong! That'sthe Aussie spirit. By the way Uncle Bill, why did our leading solar energy scientist move to the USA? Why does all our medical technology go offshore? Please explain.
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Water:
22 Aug 2008 9:37:57am
So after all the experts have given thier opinions, as a bystander you want to go in and torture a poor baby whale calf to death to try and prove that you know more about this than they do?
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
George:
22 Aug 2008 9:33:53am
I didn't get the impression that they said it couldn't be done.
Also, they had to force feed that grey whale by draining the pool in San Diego - whereas "Collin" was certainly showing every willingness to suckle. So that force feeding regime in San Diego didn't necessarily have to be applied to Collin. Collin was not in that condition of needing force feeding originally.
Also krill is available on the market.
I think the NSW Government and National Parks made a decision earlier on that they were not going to feed it, and have just spun it with their media people to cover themselves - because there are some factual inconsistencies.
That's how it appears to me.Agree (1) Alert moderator
-
-
-
John:
22 Aug 2008 8:17:18am
Volunteer to preserve the animal's suffering? No thanks. This is a dying animal. The whales the Japanese kill are healthy animals. You do the whale preservation cause a disservice by failing to distinguish.
There is a strong argument for letting nature take its course in this one. That includes no volunteers. If it was a domestic animal, no question that it should be put down as a human has shouldered responsibility for the animal's well being. A wild animal? Nature looks after it so nature should take its course. Are we intervening for self gratification or in the animal's interest?Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
JC:
22 Aug 2008 8:35:19am
John, whale preservation does not come into my opinion. My opinion is based purely upon preservation and ensuring that all avenues are exhausted before such a measure is taken.
If your point re "wild animals and let nature be" is to hold, then i ask, why do we become involved when whales beach themselves?Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Water:
22 Aug 2008 9:04:53am
JC,
Many groups in Australia who devote thier lives to helping and saving animals have been working very hard to seek a way that this animal can be saved. Apparently you, sitting in your chair, infornt of your computer, posting on an internet forum, would like to tell these people that they did not do enough?Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
Karen:
22 Aug 2008 8:51:55am
He's dying because he doesn't have milk! Do we 'humanely' kill starving people? No! We give them food and try to help them!
This is a money issue. Is this what 'give it a go' means now? The easy way out? Disgusting.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Possum:
22 Aug 2008 9:25:18am
In answer to your question regarding "humanely" killing starving people, we don't because we know exactly how to look after people. (And finding substitute parents for a human baby is far easier than finding a mother for a whale calf)
Secondly, the issue is not about money; it's about doing what is best for the calf.
Thirdly, anybody involved in the situation would not consider euthanasia the "easy way out"; the easy way out would be to dither around, let the animal die, and then say that it was meant to be.
Fourthly, being irrational, assigning human qualities to animals, is useless at best.
And finally; we can do a lot more good if we start looking after our oceans, and our environment in general. Trying to save a few specimens here and there when it suits us is hypocritical when our lifestyles are ultimately going to wipe out entire species.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
-
PaulB:
22 Aug 2008 8:35:01am
JC
Its just an animal!
It is dying a cruel natural death because, for whatever reason, it was not quite good enough to deserve to continue living. Its inferior genes will now not be passed on too future generations & for whales, thats a good thing.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
MM:
22 Aug 2008 9:04:18am
PaulB, perhaps you should consider the arguemnt that the calf has not been abandoned because of inferior genes.
Mostlikley the mother has been run over by a container ship and killed, the calf is an orphan by human interaction.
As such we should have tried harder to save it.
At the end of the day we are animals tooAgree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
Carly:
22 Aug 2008 8:48:59am
I think that time is running out, we dont have the resources to pull together something in time the whale is clearly in poor health and hasnt eaten for a week (that we know of) and we probably wouldnt be able to come up with a long-term solution to care for this whale.
I think it is also very naive to say that putting a bottle in a boat would be enough - once he no longer needs milk, how will we assimilate him with his own kind and nuture his animal instincts, we need more than food, why not assume the whale needs more than milk?
Think putting him down is sadly the only way to go.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
Marine:
22 Aug 2008 7:40:50am
I didn't expect that a baby whale in deleterious circumstances would be physically rescued but at least that it could be fed and perhaps gain enough strength to swim out to sea and latch onto a passing pod. Seemingly nobody knows what a baby whale might eat but considering that baby humans and other animals seem to do OK on cow's milk, perhaps we could have have given that a try using a large container attached to a boat with some kind of thing that whale could latch onto to feed. Why was that such an impossible task? Baby humans quickly learn that the only way to get food is to suck on a rubber teat if the real thing is not forthcoming. In the end nature abhors an artificial teat and formula milk but survivial always takes precendence. Perhaps we should have asked for Japan to assist, they after all have been conducting research on what whales eat for at least 20 years.
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Benno:
22 Aug 2008 8:28:53am
Can somebody explain to me why the idea from Marine wasn't acceptable/adopted? What's 230 litres of Milk a day if we can save the Whale?
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Deb:
22 Aug 2008 8:29:16am
They do know what it eats & drinks, but there are several problems
(a) it doesn't suck on a teat, there's a special slit arrangement on the mother's belly which it sucks from using a specialised tongue - an arrangement which is extremely difficult to replicate.
(b) what would normally be happening for this baby is that at this time of the year it would be suckling on its journey with its mother down to Antarctica. Once there, it would be learning from her & its pod how to feed on krill & survive down there. If we were to find a way to feed it, we'd have to keep it here, feeding it for months. That would really interfere with that process. It wouldn't get to Antarctica; it wouldn't be able to join a pod & learn to do what whales do; it wouldn't be learning about how to eat properly & survive in the environment down there.
I heard some wildlife professionals discussing this, & expressign the opinion that just this process (keeping it in Sydney for months) would, ultimately, be quite inhumane.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Water:
22 Aug 2008 9:01:11am
Expert from all over the world including the only people who were able to do this successfully have said that nothing can be done. Try feeding a 1-2 month old human infant cow's milk and see how long it is until you get arrested. Every avenue has been exhausted by active groups who devote thier lives to helping animals, and you accuse them of inaction?
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
John:
22 Aug 2008 7:48:17am
JC's comment shows a degree of cruelty that is often seen amongst namby pamby so called animal lovers. The correct and only thing that a caring human being should do is end the poor blighters missery and quickly and painlessly as possible. Its suffering has no doubt been prolonged by this misplaced wishy washy view.
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
JC:
22 Aug 2008 8:39:45am
John, you know nothing of my views re animals, their rights or otherwise. You dont even know me. This sort of diatribe does nothing to open up views, opinion or debate. I see life and death everyday on my rural property so have a pretty good idea "how it works!"
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Heather:
22 Aug 2008 9:15:48am
My God! I have rasied many an orphaned animal and in many cases it can be an extremely difficult process, which I have also learnt, is not always in the animl's best interest. The suffering that this whale would have to endure in an attempt to save it would be unimaginable. Then what? who would look after it once it was older? Who is going to teach it feed itself? What happens when it doesn't identify itself as being a whale, how does it survive without a pod? Remeber the tragedy of trying to save Free Willy in Mexico. Get real! As someone else said, it probably has seome sort of defect which its mother was intuitive enough to detect so as to maintain the integrity of their genetic pool.
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
Mike:
22 Aug 2008 7:50:37am
Maybe this is a great chance to give something back to the Japanese, I mean it is a goner anyway and one less whale they will have to slaughter this year when their people get hungry for some whale again.
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Smirky:
22 Aug 2008 8:30:36am
Yeah yeah. Whale sushi smorgasboard on the northern beaches. Just think of the revenue the local council could make!
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
Anna Lyze:
22 Aug 2008 7:57:48am
How very sad.
Not only the situation that this unfortunate young whale found itself in but also the shameful accusations made against those who have done their best to deal with this problem.
To blame the government for the distressful situation of a lost baby whale is astounding!!
The emotions displayed during this unfornuate event have been both heartening and disgraceful.
I fear with the growing numbers of Humpbacks on our east coast that senarios similar to this one may become more common.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
George:
22 Aug 2008 9:12:34am
Anna, sure individual staff members in National Parks are no doubt doing their best. And no one is saying that it's easy. But it's no secret that bureaucracies in Australia can be flat-footed, and National Parks are no exception.
I remember a NSW government environment media spokesperson once saying to me words to the effect: "I am here primarily to protect the reputation of the government, not to for the truth of the issue." And a former NSW Minister for the Environment also saying to me "government bureaucracies are not creative." Need more be said.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
Daryl:
22 Aug 2008 8:03:29am
I seem to remember reading an article once about US Navy ultra-sonic navigation/communications equipment being blamed for interferring with whales' internal system.(correct me if i'm wrong).Is it only coincidence that a US ship has turnedup in Sydney at the same time this has happened?
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Glen from Sydney:
22 Aug 2008 8:05:20am
An awful situation - but hopefully it will be a quick, painless and humane end to the suffering of the distressed animal.
We should send the whale's body to Japan. They can do their "important research" on a baby whale and its one less whale they would need to kill in the open ocean.
At least the memory of this whale has brought the plight of the fragile and wonderous natural world to city dwellers whose closest day-to-day brush with nature is being swooped by a pigeon.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Deb:
22 Aug 2008 8:26:14am
Too bad a company like devondale or a baby formula company like nestles or wyeth couldnt offer to sponsor the baby whale in milk - imagine the free publicity and good feelings that would generate in the public.
Not to mention probably cheaper than their top executives and publicity campaigns.
worth his weight in gold for them.
humans are ingenious - i am sure they would find a way to feed "Colin" if the means was at their disposal.
Too bad he has to die - but then perhaps he is better off than than living in a world that is sometimes needlessly cruel.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Diligent Duchess:
22 Aug 2008 8:44:53am
I totally agree with you 100%!!!
Could it just be that Mother Nature brought this troubled baby whale to us - to make us sit up and pay attention and to get us to come out of our comfort zone only to give us a reality check!Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
PaulB:
22 Aug 2008 9:11:24am
Deb,
The world is not "somtimes needlessly cruel". Natural selection requires billions of creatures to die every day in agony. It is not cruel as such, it can't be, its nature. Cruelty is human invention requiring a comprehension of the victims anguish and the determination to continue in spite or because of the suffering caused.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
Bruce:
22 Aug 2008 8:12:17am
Wouldn't it be lovely if Australians (and their media outlets) were as concerned for the suffering and plight of the people of Iraq, Dafur, Afghanistan, West Papua, Tibet or even the forgotten masses rotting in nursing homes and residential housing facilities as they are for a solitary whale.
I can't wait to see the pictures of sick, abandoned and dying children in West Papua, Dafur, Tibet and Iraq etc in tomorrows news! Perhaps we can call in the grand euthenasia experts, America, to finish them off!Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Smirky:
22 Aug 2008 8:35:52am
Iraqis are too muslim, Dafurians too dark, Afghanis too dangerous, Tibetans too distant, West Papuans too curly and those in nursing homes to old and forgotten.
Whales on the other hand are a dying breed.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
George:
22 Aug 2008 8:36:15am
Bruce, it's an assumption that anyone who cares for an animal in distress is somehow indifferent to the plight of humans. One does not exclude the other. Probably the opposite.
More likely, people with good doses of empathy for animals are also empathetic to humans as well.
Empathy is a quality that people have or don't have - whether it's for fellow humans or animals.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
Tim:
22 Aug 2008 8:13:22am
Wouldnt the easiest thing to do is shovel a bucket load of tuna or other food in its mouth? It would obviously prolong its life enough to create this milk the americans have made. It wants food, not the right psychological environment for it's survival so we sholdnt be concerned with how it behaviours with others.
Give it food to get it going and let it go! Then nature can take it's course. Not by putting it on the News everynight while we peer into the box of perversion.
I dont know, can it not stomach some whiting or sardines at it's age?
It wasnt born yesterday so it has does know who it's kind are, it's not retarded. Old geriatric talk by a bunch of woohar's isnt action. Putting food in it's mouth is. So how have we helped it?
We simply haven't.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Toni :
22 Aug 2008 8:14:40am
How come they sat on their hands for the last five days, and said they couldn't intervene, as nature had to take it's course...if this was the case, then wouldn't we just let nature take it's course and let the whale die UNASSISTED! Now it is going to be killed for humane reasons. How come we chose which way we will intervene. Wouldn't it have been humane to try to save it? We can save any other creature, come up with formulas and specialised bottles etc. With all the research and talk of saving whales. What a lot of crap! Japan must be watching this and rubbing their hands with glee!
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
George:
22 Aug 2008 8:16:22am
After this is all over we need some sought of review on how this situation was handled, because we may be face with similar situations in the future, and we need to make sure that all options for saving baby whales is being explored.
The NPWS respresentative just said on Channel 7 Sunrise show that we would have to go thousands of miles to Antarctica to get krill, but that is misleading because krill is actually available in quantities commerically in dehydrated and frozen form.
Also, we had the milk formula for a similar species, for the grey whale in the US.
I think the option of feeding could have been tried. The American's had a go and succeeded. Is the difference between the US and Australian wildlife officials, can do and can't do?
And while I feel for the National Parks employees in this difficult situation, even National Parks people get frustrated with the lack of forward thinking in this organisation. National Parks are not renown for innovation.
Lets review what's happened with "Collin" so we are better prepared to save baby whales in the future.
And also the fact that "Collin" has hung on for so long, highlights that the baby whale was seemingly in good health to start with. It seemed that officials were too quick to assume that the it was abondoned. It's just as likely that seperation from its' mother could have been accidental. Assuming abandonment is hardly best scientific practice or "expert" advice.
I feel forAgree (0) Alert moderator
-
Amanda:
22 Aug 2008 8:34:54am
You've saved a baby whale before...why cant it be done again?
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
dan:
22 Aug 2008 8:40:22am
Nature is cruel. Stop being a pack of sympathising pansy's. Thousands of animals die everyday. Why should this whale be treated any differently?
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Enviro:
22 Aug 2008 8:42:24am
This is a sad day all round, no matter what your position. I think Japanese whalers will be the only people amused by this.
Whale numbers are on the rise; this stands to reason that more whales may suffer similar fates to Collin [the whale]. If we were unable to aid this one, lets make sure we're waiting to help the next.
I would rather see my tax going towards helping out disorientated young whales, than being spent on Krudd's overseas holidays.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Geoff:
22 Aug 2008 9:07:16am
This whole scenario really highlights our inconsistency on the value of life. Leaving aside the debate about whether or not this whale calf should be euthanased, perhaps we need to examine our attitudes on the relative worth of different animals. Would we have seen this outpouring of grief had Colin been, say, a crocodile? Of course not. Nor can we argue that the animal deserves it's consideration on the grounds of rarity. Would an abandoned Greater Stick Nest Rat be getting this kind of attention? Until we mix our concern for our wildlife with a healthy dose of pragmatism - and apply it to situations like the plague of introduced koalas on Kangaroo Island and the deer in Royal National Park - our good intentions will probably continue to cause as much harm as good.
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
George:
22 Aug 2008 9:25:25am
Geoff, no doubt humans have developed a special connection with whales because we have recognized that they have complex brains. It's a bit of brainiac bond.
But does that recognition of whales intelligence debase that inter-species connection? I don't think so.
A special connection has developed between humans and cetaceans, and there's nothing wrong with that. And it doesn't exclude respect for other animals.
In fact, more empathy for whales is more likely to open up empathy for other animals as well.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
-
sorry:
22 Aug 2008 8:46:57am
I feel sorry for those people in the NPWS who were forced to make these difficult decisions.
Though it would have been heart warming to know that we could save this whale, the question remains... What then?
For whatever reasons action was not immediately taken - most likely holding to the hope that the mother would somehow find the baby, or it could be lured back out to sea - the whale is now not strong enough to survive. It is struggling and suffering and I don't believe that these people have made their decisions lightly.
There has been significant media and public pressure regarding the welfare of the whale, and under such circumstances I am sure that not one of the people involved turned up to work today and said "Hey, Let's go kill us some baby whale."
The decision has been made. Make it swift.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Sarah:
22 Aug 2008 8:48:15am
My heart goes out to those who've tried to help the baby humpback, they must be inconsolably distraught. I've been hoping that some solution could be found and that we could help but the reality is we haven't been able to and that ending its suffering is the only humane thing to do.
I also think it's incredibly insensitive to 'call on the Japanese', and any parallel to their inhumane-slaughter-protected-by-so-called-scientific-research-so-they-can-consume-whale-meat is ill-conceived. Although, I would be interested if the Japanese research could've shed some light on the situation. Most people (notice, I'm not using Australian, it's not an issue of national pride) don't like to see animals suffer, making light of the situation that an animal needs to be euthanased is shameful.
There is nothing the Government, Wildlife Services, or other volunteers could do. Blaming people who've tried to find a solution won't change the outcome.
What an incredibly sad ending, rest in peace baby humpback.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
werdan:
22 Aug 2008 8:52:23am
So where's a Japanese research vessel when you need it...
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
David Turner:
22 Aug 2008 8:58:34am
So saving the poor creature will make everyone feel warm and fuzzy inside Hu? Stop listening with closed ears and consider the other issues this creature will have. It needs to learn its language. Who will do that? The bleeding hearts I suppose? Who will teach it whale social niceties?
Look some of you guys don't listen. You get on your emotional band waggon. Shoot your mouth off and never consider the long term problems your ill thought out demands of goodness have on the very creatures you want to save.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Jarrod:
22 Aug 2008 8:59:49am
SHAME...!!! Australia, may you NEVER insult Japan over their treatment of whales again.
At least they have reasons for their controlled catch, whether it science or food.
You have just given up here because it's just too hard.
Welcome to the whaling nations.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
chuck:
22 Aug 2008 9:14:36am
we may as well make burgurs out of it.
although it is a wild animal, should humans even be interfering in the first place.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
-
Peter:
22 Aug 2008 9:07:01am
Well... it's nature actually we would like to interfere but how many baby humpbacks are abandoned by thier mother is some deserted unknown beach or bay??? It's cruel to us but that's the way it is...
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
reality:
22 Aug 2008 9:08:37am
Don't let it get in the way of a good story
Watch a wildlife special and take note. Sharks need to eat, too. Who's out there looking after the hungry endangered shark's interests?Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Maggie :
22 Aug 2008 9:17:23am
Any life whether it is human or animal deserves a chance to live. If assistance is available then all avenues must be exhausted before giving up. Please give this baby a chance.
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Sarah j:
22 Aug 2008 9:22:51am
He's had more love, care and concern than many human children left to starve in the family home. At least we know that he had all that love in his short little life...
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Greg:
22 Aug 2008 9:24:08am
Procrastination at its best.
Forget about getting it back to its natural habitat.
At least give it a chance and feed it. If the animal survives and decides to hang around people instead of its own kind, it will not be the end of whale kind.
It may be a golden opportunity for humans to get a better understanding of humpbacks.
230 litres of milk per day is nothing in the big picture.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Greg:
22 Aug 2008 9:24:31am
I'm lucky enough to have seen a baby whale born in the wild, so today is a sad day.
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
CHERIE L CURRAN :
22 Aug 2008 9:25:30am
To JC,
Preciously how I see it. People can waste God only knows how much oil, to further pollute the seas, to mind another Country's business and they can't even look after, a little one that comes in to the shore for protection.
This is a fine example of that 'Mother Nature' I have been talking about. With all the exploitation of animals, being held in captivity for monetary gain and a little, possibly injured, fretful little one, cannot even receive, the care it needs. Tell me about it. Or are the people only into 'Mother and calf situations'? Can't feed it, why bother to help it. Try telling that to Wires and all the volunteers, who help with injured wildlife.
They can hunt the whales, consume the whales, tag the whales, harass the whales, study the bl##dy damn ass out of the things and they can't apply themselves to look after one single solitary little life - Shame to all concerned with a knowledge of these creatures.
I rest my case on all these selfish people, who use and exploit Gods creatures for their own purpose, at their whim, when it suits them and what? Did the little fellow turn up at the wrong time...not convenient? Nothin' we can do.....typical!
If this is another of the Almighty's tests, you have all failed again. Or is it a send up to embarrass Man, in his frustration and inability to deal with HIS CREATURES?
To dragon,
Something should have been done in the first place; I didn't agree with it being towed out to sea, for Heavens sake, the creature has come in for respite, does one take it out again? And how in Heavens name, was it expected to swim off happily, to find all the other whales, who were probably, half way across the other side of the ocean by then? Some decision!
And when all else fails, you sing to it. I don't know if there's a Good Lord or where HE IS but you all are gonna be hearing from me cause a lot of you, just do not understand what its all about.
To John,
Yes, it probably is dying by now, no thanks to Humans, who are probably the cause of the loss of the Mother anyway. Pollution or slaughter. Whatever way it goes, it is still another sign of failure. The oceans are not what they should be. And I should know, my Father is buried out there.
"Are we intervening for self gratification or in the animal's interest" - I guess if there's no money in it, it can stay there and rot for all some people care!
"I", have had to stop and move animals off the road, whilst the majority of people, ride rough shod over them, what's some more road kill - an inconvenience, to most.Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Jane:
22 Aug 2008 9:35:41am
What a shame the procrastinations of bureaucracy has interfered with an opportunity to at least attempt to find a way to assist this poor creature, who does after all have a larger brain capacity of any of those now deciding his fate. To simply stand by was once considered un-Australian. Sadly now it seems to be the norm. Well I hope all those 'experts' are giving themselves a big pat on the back for their brilliance today as I'm sure they'll be the only ones. If Colin could have been saved imagine the possibilities for any future abandoned or orphaned whale calf let alone providing an invaluable opportunity to further whale research.
Agree (0) Alert moderator
-
Karen:
22 Aug 2008 9:38:20am
Since when ? We can't kill something just because it's hungry for a readily available product. What do National Sparks & Wildfires do for a starving whale needing milk? SING TO IT! Anyone who has tried to placate a hungry baby knows satisfying their hunger is all they're interested in - why didn't they just lower a teat into the water full of cow's milk someone already had one made up - while they were wasting days thinking, it could have been ingesting something instead. So what if it didn't work - don't we have the worst outcome?, at least the little fella wouldn't have felt so empty while they were deciding to kill him. I'm sure it would have been a better outcome for thousands of children now watching if they could have seen that he died even though we tried. Not because we gave up & ended his life.
Agree (0) Alert moderator
