Baby whale isn't the first to bond with a boat

News out of Sydney, Australia, that a lost humpback whale calf has adopted a yacht as its mother got us thinking about another notable bond between an animal and a boat.

Petra, a black swan at a German zoo, also garnered international attention in 2006 when she apparently developed a fondness for a paddle boat shaped like an over-sized white swan, refusing to leave its side. Petra later found a real-life swan lover, but after he left her, zoo officials this year reunited her with her old flame -- the one with plastic plumage.

The baby whale's devotion to the yacht seems similarly steadfast: After first being spotted Sunday, on Monday the 1- to 2-month-old was seen trying to suckle the boat and would not leave.

To try to coax the whale back out to sea and closer to its mother or to a pod of whales, rescuers towed the duo out to sea, where the calf detached from the boat, but remained close by.

-- Tony Barboza

Photo: Martin Meissner / Associated Press

Comments

[Animules rule]

Most orphaned baby wild animals do this. Orphaned squirrels crawl on dogs, humans and try to suckle. Orphaned deer follow people home, same with raccoons and skunks. Orphaned mockingbirds, blue jays also do this. I bet orphaned human infants would do the same. This is our animal instinct and nature.

[mal fabian]

this baby whale looks no bigger than a horse , they fly horses around the world . I read that 607 humpback whales with many babies , were seen in western Australian last week . Why not fly the lost baby to be with this massive group of humpback whales and hope a mother adopts it . Its the only hope and it could be done in 24 hours if we could get a plane and a rubber dingy , very little to lose , they fly horses dont they

[Bill Simpson]

Further to previous comments, this infant whale is approx 3 tons in weight. Also, to transport it would require a certain amount of water for it to float in, no mean feat. Just to make things even more difficult, nobody knows the formula for whale milk so it cannot be fed through human intervention. Perhaps the very worst aspect to be mindful of is that all whales have a "language" unique to their own pod so the prospect of being adopted by another pod is very unlikely. As an Australian I would like anyone reading this that may be concerned by this event to know local authorities are doing everything they possibly can to assist this unfortunate creature.