A Young Humpback Whale Mistakenly Approaches a Boat, Thinking It’s Its Mother
Crew members and passengers aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Lahaina, Maui were taken by surprise when they spotted a whale lingering near their vessel.
Jack Boulware, the captain of the cruise ship, stated that upon reviewing video footage of the unexpected visitor, he noticed that the whale was sticking out its tongue and licking the side of the boat.
It seems to be seeking milk.
Humpback whales require 100 to 130 gallons of milk each day during the first 8 to 12 months after birth. It remains unclear what happened to the mother whale that led to this confusion. However, a day prior, a drone captured footage of an adult humpback whale slapping its tail at a calf.
In recent years, many young humpback whales have been left orphaned after their parents have died due to collisions with boats or entanglement in fishing nets. Sometimes, mothers abandon their calves if they sense they will not survive.
“Something may have happened to the mother. Or there may be something wrong that led the mother to decide that the calf would not survive and had to be abandoned,” said Ed Lyman, a whale expert.
In 2008, a young humpback whale off the eastern coast of Australia was observed attempting to approach passing cruise ships. “There is no doubt that the calf seemed to mistake the cruise ship for its mother,” a spokesperson for the Whale Rescue and Research Organization stated at the time.
