They’ve killed Colin..
Colin is dead.
NSWPWS euthanised Colin this morning and then took him to Taronga Zoo for an Autopsy.
Reports of him struggling and thrashing about as NSWPWS towed him across 300m of water are starting to surface, making this whole exercise a thoroughly shameful one.
August 22nd, 2008 at 7:10 pm
i really loved colin and i didnt want him to die =[
August 22nd, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I’m just so sorry, I don’t applaud watching animals suffering, however, It would have been nice to see someone try at least to give the bub some food. I hard Dr Zammit saying on the radio that he had contacted authorities about getting down there today with food… he sounded very upset that he couldn’t try, and so am I.
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Absolutely disgusting. So distressing. How could they have gotten it so wrong.
How could we fail him like we did. I am so ashamed so be an aussie today.
Such a cowardly act. This is not the end.
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I’m studying Marine Biology at uni and cannot for the life of me understand why the Australian authorities dragged their asses and didnt allow any marine scientists/biologists to use their expertise and save this beautiful girl. How thick must you be to have the option of attempting to help this amazing animal and potentially learn more about the species, or giving up and killing it.
BASTARDS!
August 22nd, 2008 at 9:27 pm
what can i say….Here i am a 25yr old sitting on my own crying for what we have done to an innocent little calf, im disgraced in how we handled a poor little abandoned whale, well its typical when you look at australia really…. we have homeless on the streets that we can not help, we have money hungry people that dont care for anyone or anything but themselves, we have familys that are torn apart and little children sleeping in trash bins, well “THIS IS AUSTRALIA”. When are we going to wake up and realise that the world and its people need help! Im dumbfounded that we couldn’t help this poor little distressed creature, maybe if we all put our hands in our pockets or lended a hand or even asked AMERICA for help then I think this beautiful endangered creature may have had a chance. I want to express a huge THANK YOU to all that had a heart to mourn for this little fighter and i also hope that AUSTRALIA and its people wake up and realise just how pathetic we really have become. RIP COL.xxxx
August 22nd, 2008 at 10:00 pm
maybe it was more logical to put him to sleep,bit we still should have tried.he was ignored for 5 days or more, is that logical?
shame…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
August 22nd, 2008 at 10:21 pm
It makes me sick to the stomach, & with an uneasy feeling that
secretly, we all know that the only reason that Colin the whale
was euthanised had nothing to do with the whales physical condition,
but rather it was the cost of keeping it alive…
The reports were that it was hungry, weak & near it’s death, yet
quite obviously wasn’t such, after seeing how much it thrashed
about when captured & towed to it’s death…
My respect for those responsible for the death of this animal is
less than the respect I have for the Japanese who slaughter
hundreds of whales… They kill for the food value, & cover it with
the excuse of it being scientific evaluation, we killed this poor
baby whale for nothing, no excuse whatsoever other than it would
have cost too much to keep it alive, plain & simple, anyone who
beleives otherwise is in denial & a fool…
I’m quite sure that if someone were to have started a charity to fund the upkeep to feed this boor bugger, the money would have
rolled in quick smart, & in saying that, makes me feel partly
responsible for not acting on it myself…
August 22nd, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I can’t believe they couldn’t find a nursing mother at a zoo somewhere, or allowed those Devine people to try their solution! That is really obtuse that they would not permit that.
I have decided that wildlife management services all over the world are more designed towards making things comfortable for humans than helping animals. Ours in the States are largely that way. They require the euthanization of wild animals trapped around houses as opposed to allowing them to be released into the wild. Ridiculous.
My theory would be that the biologists determined that if Colin had developed a fondness for yachts that if he survived and got larger and older and retained this fondness it would put human lives and property in jeopardy. Therefore this was the human-friendly solution.
I could be wrong but I can’ think of any other reason why the poor creature wouldn’t have been given another couple of tries. He could have been sedated and taken to to an aquarium I would think where he’d be safe from sharks….If they could tow him to kill him, they could have towed him to safety. I note that the objection is that he would have to be fed for a year. Big deal! Isn’t that what marine biologists are supposed to love to do? care for marine animals?
Sorry…early morning Rant.
Rest in peace, Baby Colin. May your next life be a better one. Shame on us for not being able to help you.
August 23rd, 2008 at 9:09 am
It’s a multi million dollar business in whale watching
- even watching baby Colin die!
It all comes down to money.
Where there is LIFE there is HOPE.
Some heads should roll in the National Parks and Wildlife……… soon!
August 23rd, 2008 at 9:14 am
I too am very saddened by the lack of help for Colin. People are heartless and don’t think that animals have feelings. This little guy was just looking for his mother. I pray that we get it together and realize that we don’t rule the world, God does.
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:03 am
Isn’t it better to try, and fail, than not try at all ? This baby desperately needed help, and got NONE. I’m one of many thousands who would have been more than willing to give financial help toward the care for this calf. Why worry about “problems” twelve months away ? Just take one day at a time. Some people at National Parks & Wildlife should be looking for other jobs, as clearly they’re in the wrong one at the moment. I’m so appalled and ashamed to be an Australian, but mostly so very sorry this baby whale didn’t get the help she deserved.
I’ll never forget her, and hope that this tragedy is NEVER repeated. R.I.P
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:36 am
It is truly sad when we realise this baby had to be put down for the money that would have to be spent saving him, where is the justice….
The government should have stepped in, if an election was due soon you can be sure that the leaders would have been there, disgraceful.
When they NPWS were doing the press conference the woman said he died with dignity and respect, what planet are you from, ropes around him, thrashing around in the water being towed back to shore and then killed, there is nothing respectful in the way Colin was treated from being watched starved for 5 days and then the way she was disposed of.
We sit here and get up in arms over the Japanese the way they whale hunt what is different from what we just did, we didnt even try..
R.I.P little one….
August 23rd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Surely we could have tried to save it! Or at least eased its suffering in the days leading up to her death- how can you watch a hungry baby whale for so many days and not attempt to feed it? I do not understand. I am ashamed of our efforts. I believe in natural selection but it was our waters and therefore our responsibility.
August 23rd, 2008 at 7:17 pm
It is so sickening..all the pain this poor calf had to go through. Also how the calf appeared with an obvious need , & nothing could be done about it. It would have been wonderful to see Australia do the right thing & try to save this calf.Instead, many of us will be left feeling helpless, hurt & terrible b/c the proffessional;s took so long to do anything, then by then, nothing else seemed possible.I hope this situation never happens again. It was great to see the men who threw themselevs into helping colette/colin by bringing pumps & milk..this is the enthusiam NPWS/Australia should have, life is worth fighting for , esp with one so young…it is always worth trying ,as animals lives are precious too, just like humans. People & animals have , & can beat the odds..death should only be when everything possible was tried & failed.
August 24th, 2008 at 12:48 am
I just want to say
i saw
i watched
and i cannot believe the total disregard that was paid to the Kind and wonderful people of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society,who offered every kind of help, along with Australia Zoo.Sea Shepherd actually rang around the world and had the whale formula ready and able to feed this little whale,But the people of National Parks & Wildlife,ignored their offers and and took it upon themselves to decide what was best for colin,and we all know what the outcome was ..
Every year the Sea Shepherd and Captain Watson go down to the Southern Ocean to defend the Whales from the japanese whalers ,who kill the endangered whales with such brutality,The Japanese believe they can do this even though it is against the law to hunt and kill whales in the sanctuary,this is the law ,but Japan refuses to acknowledge this and the Australian Govt doesnt have the balls to defend it,so Captain Watson and his crew risk their lives to save as many whales from being killed as possible.
These people are the Pirates of Compassion,they deserve your support
August 24th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
We can fly man to the moon, but we cannot save a whale? We should be ashamed!
August 25th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Words cannot describe the feelings I feel, after watching something so heart breaking.
I find it even hard to talk about. But what I would like to do, is protest. Write letters, petitions, whatever it takes so that in the future when a whale cub is lost or in another situation like this, that the bastard government that we elected and its agencies simply don’t (and won’t have) the mandate and legal authority to destroy a young life simply because they deem fit.
It should be against the law to do something like that – I found it truly horrifying and if nothing else brutal. If somebody can please advise me of where to channel my protest and concerns so that our energies as nation can be better channeled in future similar situations it would be fantastic.
I heard and saw later on the news how a hump back whale beached its self only shortly after Colin life was destroyed by our environmental agencies. The question of whether this could have been Colin’s mother was raised. And one can only wonder…
August 25th, 2008 at 9:41 am
I think it is absolutely inhuman what they did. I believe they should have tried other alternatives first. What harm would it have done? I am an animal lover and I just can’t imagine not doing everything remotely possible to save an animals life before doing such a shamelees thing like they did to Colin.
August 27th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Where was Bindi Urwin and family….. if they were true “wildlife warriors” like her father she should have been there not letting this “murder” to happen!
August 28th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Colins fate was sealed when (a) petty beaurecrat(s), whose brain(s) is/are inversely proportional to their (his/her)ego(s) said early in the piece that it was hopeless to save him. They (he/she)set out to kill him before it could be proved otherwise.