A baby whale lost in waters north of Sydney may have only days to live after it was apparently abandoned by its mother.
"This is a very young calf. It's probably two to three weeks old. It absolutely needs its mother, or another whale to adopt it," NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service spokesman John Dengate said today.
"It's heart-wrenching. Normally whales stay very, very close to their mothers. They're inseparable and they suckle for 11 months before being weaned," he told Fairfax Radio Network.
The whale calf was spotted nuzzling up to a whale-sized yacht in the Pittwater area yesterday, seemingly mistaking the vessel for its mother.
"We managed to coax it out to sea yesterday by towing a yacht," Mr Dengate said.
"The sad news is ... this morning, it's returned ... last sighting was Mackerel Beach [in Pittwater].
"We've got some folks out there at the moment trying to assess its condition, but the fact that it went out to sea yesterday, there were whales in the vicinity but it's come back in again, it's pretty sad news.
"It would suggest that it's not been able to make contact with those whales or they weren't interested in it."
Mr Denegate said the newborn whale would not survive long without its mother's milk.
"It's probably a question of days rather than weeks. It's a very grim prognosis."
The calf's only chance for survival rests on it being fostered by another female whale, as artificial feeding would not be possible, he said.
"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."
