20080819

Free Billy!

A lost 1 to 2 month old humpback whale calf was discovered trying to suckle from a yacht in Sydney on Sunday, which it would not leave. The yacht was towed out into the ocean and the calf finally released itself from the yacht but has since returned.
The prognosis is grim, as this calf cannot survive without it's mother's (which he thought was the yacht) milk for very long. Artifical feeding is impossible and researchers say it's a matter of days, not weeks, until the calf dies.
"If a lactating female with a calf goes past and this calf approaches that animal it may accept it, but ... it's a very slim chance," New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service spokesman John Dengate said.

Photo: Channel Nine

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