Vincent Sobotka – Just two days ago, spectators gathered at Surfer’s Paradise, on Australia’s Gold Coast, and turned a wrenching scene filled with potential tragedy into 48-hours of joy and hopefulness. A humpback calf lay beached and suffering. Marine scientists from Sea World, with the assistance of Gold Coast City Council members, revived the whale’s chances for survival, but experts knew the odds remained slim.Concerns were raised when the mother of the calf had not been spotted during a search in nearby waters. It is estimated that a humpback calf feeds from its mother at least 40 times per-day. Without finding its mother, the calf was not likely to survive and could possibly wind up beached again.
“You can't keep pushing it out; the animal's going to suffer and suffer,” explained Australian Associated Press member Trevor Long, “so the only decision then is that we probably have to euthanize it.” The baby humpback was electronically tagged, to be tracked until reuniting with its mother.
Every year, humpback whales migrate to the Antarctic Ocean for feeding. However, today, Long’s conjecture became an unfortunate reality for the calf recently rescued from certain death. Just off of Brisbane, the humpback calf washed up again this morning, now on the coast of Moreston Island, Australia. Locals were unable to again drag the more than 1.5 ton (1500 kg) mammal back to sea without causing significant harm and fatal suffering to the animal. A team from the Sea World marine park was again summoned, but this time to euthanize the ailing humpback.
Though euthanasia is always a sad solution, and a bigger problem than many realize, one can sometimes accept this as an outcome slightly easier than knowing a living being incapable of improving its own life and so will, otherwise, miserably endure suffering until its death. However, knowing the strict dependency whale calves have on their mothers, as well as the fact that they will suffer injury being transported to deeper waters, to judge when to euthanize a beached infant whale and when to attempt rescue is a moral challenge.
Last month in Riverhead, NY, United States, another whale beached itself against the rocky shores of Montauk beach. Any thoughts of rescue quickly turned to post-death plans of disposal. The whale, bleeding from its injuries, was not euthanized. In fact, no rescue efforts were attempted. Authorities cited federal protocol, which bars them from risking their own lives on the crushing terrain. However, a local reported noted that children approached the whale and attempted to ease its suffering by pouring buckets of water over the animal during low-tide.
Upon comparison of the two scenarios, one is only left to ask who, if anyone, is morally fallacious?
