Question Details

Will the stranded calf whale find its mum?

Will the stranded calf whale find its mum?

Asked by: Super Userkruijs in General » Other
Settled on 08/10/2011 11:15 Settled by bernardo
Winning option:, or not reported, or unknown at suspension "A BABY humpback whale rescued on the Gold Coast on Monday was to be put down today after beaching itself for the second time in three days." http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/sad-end-as-baby-humpback-whale-beaches-itself-again/story-e6frg6nf-1226112372730

Predictions

Background

A newborn humpback whale stranded on a Gold Coast beach has been returned to the ocean, with the hope it will make contact with its mother.

A crowd of hundreds on the shore at Surfers Paradise cheered as the calf, towed by two jetskis, cleared the beach and was released into the surf where he made his way back out to the ocean. Two jetskis escorted it to deeper water and rescuers are hoping the whale stays offshore and doesn't come back to the beach, where it was found about 1am (AEST).

Rescuers have yet to spot the calf's mother but are hoping the baby whale will be able to call to her and she will return to guide him out to deep water.

Seaworld's director of marine sciences, Trevor Long, said the calf would be monitored for the rest of the day to give it the best opportunity to reunite with its mother. "It's not over yet. The whale has been lying on one pectoral fin all night," Mr Long said. "He's very sore and not moving it much at all. The hope of this exercise is that he will now be able to communicate with his mother but we don't know where his mother is. However they can communicate for many tens of kilometres so if his mother is 20 or 30 kilometres away, she might be able to pick him up. He may come back to the beach. We've done everything we can at this stage but at some point in time we'll have to leave the animal and let nature take its course."

Mr Long said the calf, which is only one week old, could survive for up to five days without feeding from its mother but would become progressively weaker and is already very tired.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/stranded-calf-whale-swims-off-to-find-mum/story-e6frfku0-1226110889482#ixzz1URl1LhWw

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   cici

Ken, not just your problem, 17 min. prior to suspension I couldn't catch my questions, tried waiting for about 5 min. and gave up.

I hope the baby makes it.

   kenneth1

Great Question Stijn!!

I like these personal questions, dealing with nature...
By the way, i added a note about my problems with connections and KtN;
No immediate hurry or anything . just on the site dealing with problems..
I had trouble today, owing (IMHO) too much traffic either mid Atlantic or on KtN
at a time related to the closing of some USA financial market questions. (2PM US time)...

Maybe just my problem.. or not..

   Super Userkruijs

Experts have their fingers crossed that it's the mother of their calf, who had a brief run-in with a shark net before swimming into the sea after being rescued.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/experts-hope-humpback-whale-calf-found-mum-20110809-1ijru.html

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