Originally Posted by FNQCairns
Spot on fnq!
I just supprised they let the poor thing fret for so much time before going through with the BIG injection! Nature is a tough master and putting the beast down humanely is the best we can do, if they leave it any longer the sharks will be into it and they wont care if it's still alive!
Ian
Alcohol doesn't agree with me, but i sure do enjoy the argument!!!
Well this whole story says heaps about our Greenies and other "Save our world" groups !!! All the technology, skills and resources needed to sneak up and vandalise comercial shipping but no ability to save 1 baby whale !
2008 and what do we know about the creatures we share our planet with?? very little it seems.....
It's a shame when something like this comes down to politics.....
Politics ?
Not sure what you mean, it's a simple issue of what do you do with something like that ? you can't feed it cows milk or S26 formula for new borns, and not long after they suckle they need Krill which isn't something we have in abundance
I feel great saddness like most that a beautiful creature of the sea has suffered and had to be put down, but practicality has to prevail, we all complain about taxes and the cost of living etc.. To look after this poor bugger would have cost a fortune, and was logisitcally near impossible..
If men are from Mars, and women are from Venus, politicians must be from uranus ?
I mean politics between different groups about what should be done.....have been done.....
The practicality of raising a whale is not reasonable / economical - but has been done.....it comes down to what the priority is : $$$$ versus a decision to give life to a whale....
From the ABC today
Dead whale could be abandoned calf's mother
Posted 2 hours 11 minutes ago
Updated 2 hours 3 minutes ago
Authorities will carry out an autopsy on the carcass of the baby whale. (AAP)
Related Story: Abandoned whale calf put down
Wildlife workers believe they may have found the mother of the baby humpback which was euthanased in Sydney's north this morning.
A whale carcass was found off the New South Wales far south coast today.
The baby humpback was unable to feed after being abandoned by its mother and was trying to suckle on yachts in the Pittwater Basin this week.
Scientists and wildlife officials were unable to find a way of feeding or saving the calf and it was put down this morning in order to end its suffering.
Wildlife workers say they plan to carry out DNA testing on the other whale to see if it could be the calf's mother.
Authorities will also carry out an autopsy on the carcass of the baby whale.
RSPCA spokesman Steve Colman says he hopes an autopsy can determine if and why the young whale was abandoned.
"We always autopsy an animal like this - the last one we autopsied had meningitis, so look it's possible," he said.
"There is a biological reason why the mother whale abandoned it, but we've tried the best we could since day one to do the best we could for the whale."
This morning the National Parks and Wildlife Service used ropes to bring the whale ashore before giving it a fatal dose of anaesthetic, despite vocal protests from some onlookers.
Wildlife workers say the whale's death was peaceful, but some onlookers have raised concerns over the way the killing was carried out.
Meanwhile, a Hervey Bay-based whale researcher says the decision by New South Wales Parks and Wildlife to put down whale calf was the right one.
Oceania Project's Wally Franklin says the calf's chance of survival off Sydney's northern beaches was extremely slim.
He says the calf was born earlier than usual which means the chance of him being separated from his mother was heightened.
"Normally the births take place up in the sheltered warm waters in the Great Barrier Reef and the calves have time to develop and gain some confidence and experience before they start their journey south," he said.
"For any calf that's born during the migration - and we know that occurs - the risks are very much higher."
Lots of animals die, It was born way to early and was probably in the harbour to try to stop sharks or Orcas from eating it. It;s chances of survival were pretty close to nil anyway putting it down was the kindest thing to do.
Conservation is about making sure the species survive not individual animals.
Worrying about a single baby whale is pure emotional conservation not good science.
I can't believe the millions of dollars that has been pocketed by the media in the 6 days this calf has been around. The entire nation and half of the world has become emotionally attached to the calf and its futile story.
This is wildlife and in the wild there is no mercy, compassion or intervention for the plight of any orphan of any species. It will always come down to being food for some other animal somewhere.
You can attach emotion to wildlife and its environment or situation. Nature will take its course regardless of our thoughts or feelings.
Putting it down was simply merciful to calm our hearts, nature would have been more cruel.
Jack.
spot on there!!
one baby whale and all the lunatics come out...hundreds of thousands of baby humans on the planet needing some fresh water and a feed ..where are these lunatics then. Sad world alright.
haha people adopt monkeys insted of kids? and cloth them give them a bed there are some wierd people out there.
personally a persons life comes before any other living thing (most people anyways)
oh and the whales name was collet not collen they changed it!
Obviously Sydney does not have enough Green Zones....
Maybe GBRMPA should get involved ....surely they could have saved the whale.
would not like to be the "Media Liason Officer " on this one , he or she is gonna get cruisified either way you need to be good to "spin" your way out of this one.
BigE
Yes PinHead, it's sad but true. I have personally been affected by the plight of humans in Africa and have worked very hard as an individual to make a difference in my own small way. I have visited Eastern and Southern Africa twice to this end at my own expense.
(My avatar picture is of a fishing boat on the coast of Kenya at Watamu, north of Mombasa. Off track, but some died there in the Asian tsunami of Dec 2004, just weeks after my daughter and I left. Horribly, many fishing boats such as they are, were destroyed leaving humble people with no means of earning an income.We never hear about these things do we? )
Unless we experience the tragedy on a personal level, I don't believe it really hits home just how bad things can get. I used to think the images on TV of people in dire need were of the worst case scenario's, until I saw for myself that things are actually much worse than what is portrayed.
Charities have to really put the horror 'in our faces' so to speak, in order to raise funds for those basics like water as you mentioned. And then they are criticised for spending some of that money on administration. What gives? I am not attached to any charity or church body, but I know without organisations like CARE, World Vision, Unicef etc. things would be even worse.
Still, the little whale story touched many people and that is OK too. He was in our own backyard and therefore at the forefront of our attention. At least we still have hearts and can be affected enough to move us to try to do something. That we haven't hardened so much that we look at everything in terms of economics and pragmatism, gives me hope for humanity.
PS The lunatics can do as they please, after all they are lunatics.
Last edited by Blackjenny; 23-08-2008 at 06:11 AM. Reason: the lunatics
Blackjenny
"Summer breeze, makes me feel fine..."
Had a lecture from a humpback expert today. He said if it had been found anywhere else it would have been euthanased almost immediately in accordance to animal ethics. He said most of the time when you see orphan humpbacks taken out to sea they die anyway, as mothers will not adopt other calves. Also the notion of comparing a grey whale with a humpback was poorly based due to the much larger migration route of humpbacks and even if it had managed to be raised on artificial milk would probably died as an adult. Humpback whale populations are increasing at a rate of 11% a year and as the population grows we can only expect more of these events to occur. Lets hope in future stranded calves can be treated ethically and not have their unavoidable death prolonged by media and political driven sensationalism.
they should have just taken it out to sea in the beginning and put it down and given it to the sharks a long way offshore away from the prying camera eyes etc.
would have been better for everybody. don't mean to sound harsh, but it never had a chance so the wait should never have been prolonged and the media should never have gotten so involved.
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