Vale Colin, Sydney's Orphaned Baby Whale

'Baby whale swims under Bonny Doon wharf in the Basin - photo by Nick Moir, SMH' .

When it's light enough to see this morning, the baby whale which has been trying to suckle several yachts in 'the Basin', a small anchorage in Broken Bay to the north of Sydney, will be humanely put to sleep to end his suffering.

'The vets who had a look at him were really surprised at how fast he'd gone downhill,' NPWS spokesman John Dengate said.

'He's having difficulties breathing and his flippers were at an unnatural angle.

'Their advice to us was `he's not going to last much longer, he's suffering, and you should take action'.'

An attempt was made to shepherd the 4.5 metre whale out to sea on Sunday after her first appeared in Pittwater, snuggling to another yacht. The hope was that another pod of whales would adopt him. However, shark bites now showing on his flank indicate that he came back into protected waters to evade attack.

The decision was made at a meeting of NSW Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) workers, scientists and representatives of other agencies after the calf's condition took the dramatic turn for the worse.

Colin trying to suckle yacht last Sunday - .. .

'They'll need to locate it first, and the poor little guy could have passed away in the night,' Mr Dengate said.

'Once they figure out what's happened, they'll take it from there.'

'It's a really tragic result from an operation and people worked really, really hard' Mr Dengate said.

Every whale expert consulted throughout Colin's presence in Broken Bay has reiterated that rearing a humpback artificially has never been done, and the task is a near impossible one. Even if one could obtain a substitute for whale milk, the lactation period is 11 months, and then the whale would have to be transported to the Antarctic where their only source of food - krill - is located.

Mr Dengate said Colin would be euthanased with an overdose of anaesthetic at the earliest and safest possible time after daylight.

'He'll just go to sleep,' he said.

by BW Media