This baby humpback whale was thought to be injured by a boat as it migrated south past Cape Byron with it's mother. The local authorities did an amazing job with the whale and the general public who were on the beach that day. It was an amazing site. More info at: www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2...
Poor baby, I can’t imagine the mothers pain. These animals develop such strong bonds with their family, comparable to elephants if not even more. Unfortunately a lot of marine biologists will stand by and do nothing. They’d rather study the animal dead then alive.
27 October, 2008 12:03PM AEDT Dead humpback at Byron Bay By Vicki Kerrigan A five month old Humpback Whale, was discovered by early morning surfers, in the shallows at a popular surf break at Byron Bay on Sunday morning at around 7am.P A five month old Humpback Whale, was discovered by early morning surfers, in the shallows at a popular surf break at Byron Bay on Sunday morning at around 7am. It's believed the whale was alive when surfers discovered the calf at The Pass, but by the time authorities arrived, around 30 minutes later, the whale had died. "He had a pretty severe propeller injury along the spine, down towards the tail flukes....it turned out the propeller cut through the spine, down towards the flukes, so he wouldn't have been able to swim properly and he's obviously then come in," says Dan Burns, a PhD student from Southern Cross University's Whale Research Centre. "The injury looked like it was probably a couple of days old, so it was probably a bit further up the coast that he'd been hit." From late September to early November the east coast of Australia is a whale super highway. Dan Burns says, "These days probably about 1000 mums and calves are travelling down the coast and tending to stay in close. So definitely, anyone in a boat needs to be aware of that and especially vessel speeds. Nobody wants to hit a whale." All vessels need to be at least 100 metres away from a whale, or preferably 300 metres from mums and calves. Dan Burns believes the calf was a strong and healthy whale up until its collision with a boat. He estimates the male calf was around 4 or 5 months old and weighed around five tonnes. Researchers from SCU took a skin sample and a blubber sample, "..perhaps we might know the mum. It's a good idea to build up a bit of a picture, it looks like it was a calf from earlier this season." The body of the calf was removed from the beach and buried at a secret location. There is a chance the skeleton may be exhumed in the future and put on display.
15 years ago 😥 the poor baby humpback 😢
A sad ans painful way to die. Swim fast in heaven little guy.
Poor baby, it’s kind of creepy to see it with its mouth hanging open I hope the mother is ok
Poor little baby :'((
Just tragic
A dead baby animal juxtaposed by laughing children. Creepy kids.
Y y . Pollution.
15 years agro today 9 March 2024
No teeth. It’s robbed
No teeth? Moses whales don’t have teeth, Humpback whales feed on shrimp-like crustaceans (krill) and small fish, straining huge volumes of ocean water through their baleen plates, which act like a sieve. Sperm whales are the only true whale that have teeth and feed on larger animals including giant squids.