An orphaned humpback whale calf nuzzled a tour boat for a heartbreaking reason

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - A baby humpback whale was captured on video trying to nurse from a tour catamaran after becoming separated from its mother.

“At first it was really exciting, and then it got really devastating,” said catamaran captain Jonathan Boulware, who recorded the video of the calf nuzzling against the rear of his vessel last Thursday off Lahaina, Maui.

“I came up and I was just like, ‘Wait, did it just touch the boat?’” said Cherine Baumgardner, who studies environmental sciences. “Why would it come so close? Like, no mother would ever let the baby get so close.”

That’s the trouble. There was no mother whale.

“I heard stories, but this is really rare, that’s how we knew right away," said Boulware. “And when we saw the footage, we could see that it was actually sticking its tongue out at us and begging more milk, sucking on the side of the boat, trying to nurse on the boat, like we were it’s mother maybe.”

Earlier that day, a drone camera recorded an adult humpback, swinging its tail at the same calf, like it was swatting it away.

While no one knows why, or what happened in this case, animal lovers say it’s a reminder that boat strikes and entanglements can leave calves orphaned, essentially making for a double tragedy.

“I think the human impact or the extent of the human impact is just not acceptable,” said Baumgardner.

Ed Lyman chases entangled whales for a living as a federal Marine Mammal Response Manager. He said we may never know why the calf was alone.

“We don’t normally find out, and as far as helping the animals, there’s not much we can do,” he said.

“It could be that something happened to the mother, or there’s something wrong with the calf and the mother has made the decision that it’s not going to survive and it moves on. Some mothers will do that," Lyman added.

Lyman also said that it’s not unusual for separated whale calves to come up to boats. He’s had it happen, but it’s still something sad to see.

“The calf is approaching our boat and nuzzling against it, and it breaks your heart,” said Lyman. “Even as scientists, it can hit you there.”

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