Mother Whale Dies/Baby Life Threatened

[Lyndawitha"Y]

My goodness..I watch the efforts made to try and reunite mother and baby..what a shame..

http://www.ketv.com/news/20347502/detail.html

They are talking about putting the calf down..What a shame...

http://www.wsmv.com/news/20347502/detail.html

I was struck by the commitment by rescuers..trying to save these two..As it happens..this type of whale are very rare!! Actually I thought they were something other than whales..like a Dolphin..but what do I know..Nadda about marine life..

LMS:blushing:

[Lyndawitha"Y]

It seems this species are somewhat rare..or unknown..except of course what they know from evidence from findin remains onshore....I find this very interesting....hum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmy_sperm_whale

The pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) is one of three species of toothed whale in the sperm whale family.
Apparantly so far this momma was a "Pygmy Sperm Whale"..while I only have recall to the lorger version..the explanations here really makes you understand the complexities of nature!!

LMS

[Noahs ARK]

Oh no! I was watching the rescue efforts on tv earlier. :crying:

[Lyndawitha"Y]

Oh no! I was watching the rescue efforts on tv earlier. :crying:

It was heart breaking..really!! I thought when they both went out..they would reunite..nope..didnt happen..at least they were able to bring them together before momma died..that for me at least helped in my accepting the outcome..What a shame..but I guess we cant second quess nature...So Sad!!

LMS

[R~O~S]

This is too sad, why can't they transport the baby to an aquarium to be hand raised?

I'll volunteer for 2 am and 4 am, hubby can do midnight and 6 am...........

There's got to be an aquarium that could accommodate the baby in Florida, what about sea world? The NE Aquarium can and has done it for Beluga Whales caught up in the harbor, but transporting him to NE would be a major & risky undertaking for the whale.

[Lyndawitha"Y]

This is too sad, why can't they transport the baby to an aquarium to be hand raised?

I'll volunteer for 2 am and 4 am, hubby can do midnight and 6 am...........

There's got to be an aquarium that could accommodate the baby in Florida, what about sea world? The NE Aquarium can and has done it for Beluga Whales caught up in the harbor, but transporting him to NE would be a major & risky undertaking for the whale.

Apparantly R~O~S it has something to do with no other specimens like this calf (captivity scenerio) ..and they dont think they can accomodate its needs..So many unknowns..Yikes..Yet another unknown..

Im like you..maybe they can learn from this case...I do think Momma had health issues..but Calf??who knows??..i find this very interesting indeed..Heart Breaking.but Interesting!!

If nothing else they will learn more about this species..as it isnt a normal or regular animal/mammal..I have to admit..my first instict was Whale? ten thought it was a Dolphin..or Porpoise..they sure didnt show any fight or aggression from the hours of watching rescuers heading them off and redirecting..Such a gentle animal/mammal!!

LMS

[R~O~S]

:biggrin: I love the little whales, I didn't even know such a thing existed until they took a beluga into the NE Aquarium from the harbor. It had to be 30 years ago, and they're no bigger full grown than a dolphin. They put her in with the dolphins, they got along great and eventually relocated her to a Maine research facility. The Aquarium used it as a learning/teaching experience for the visitors. That's a lot of what they do, raise awareness.

But that's exactly the point, they're so rare, couldn't they at least try. I can understand they may not be successful, but they'd know in a few days if they needed to do the right thing we all struggle with for our own furbabies from time to time.

They're a toothed whale, not a baleen whale, which would be so much more difficult. They should have a pretty good idea of dietary needs. Something between a killer whale and a dolphins diet.

That's it, I'm headed down there to get this all in order. He's just a baby, they really need to give him a chance.

[airportwoman]

I'm not able to post a link, but the CNN story said that the baby had to be euthanized because this species does not survive in captivity.

:sad:

Both mother and baby will be autopsied to see if they had any identifiable whale diseases.

Yes, it's sad, but it's nature, and had we not intervened, the baby would have starved to death or been attacked by predators.