Humpback Whale Calf Thinks Yacht is its Mother

Posted on August 19, 2008
Filed Under Gay News Blog

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.”