By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Stephanie Vlachos, a city animal-care
supervisor, helps care for the baby whale.

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Human ‘parents’
pamper adopted whale

Caregivers swim lap after lap
with the orphaned melon-headed whale,
being nursed at Sea Life Park

By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin

The baby melon-headed whale tried to nurse from human swimmers by sucking on their toes. They mistook her for an overly friendly dolphin. Hungry and listless, the calf headed for the Kona shore, quite possibly to beach herself.

Then Mike Osborn rescued her, wrapping his arms around her in the water.

Osborn, team leader of animal care for Sea Life Park, spent a sleepless weekend nursing the 3-month-old calf on a formula mixture that includes whipped cream.

Osborn and his team swam with the baby to offer companionship, occasionally touching her side. She in turn has touched them.

The orphaned whale remained in serious condition yesterday and could be the world's only rescued melon-headed whale, said her veterinarian, Bob Braun of the National Marine Fisheries Service and Sea Life Park.

Sleek, dark gray and about 6 feet long, the calf would have died if she hadn't been rescued Friday off the Kona Coast, Braun said.

The rescue means nothing to her species, who are neither endangered nor threatened, he said, "But it means everything to her." The rescue also helps increase public awareness of marine mammals.

Initially she had been misidentified as a false killer whale.

"Not many people know what a melon-headed whale looks like," he said. The toothed whales grow 8 feet long and weigh 400 pounds. Now the calf weighs 96 pounds.

"She's not out of the woods yet. The biggest problem is acclimation, being away from Mom," said Braun, who with Osborn rescued her in Keauhou Bay. "She seems to be reacting well to Mike."

Osborn's team hasn't left her side since she arrived from the Big Island.

Spending at least $3,000 a day in overtime and expertise from whale specialists around the world, Sea Life Park volunteered to try nursing the orphan back to health. They have no idea what her odds are for survival, Braun said. Orphaned whale calves are rare, and successful rescues of them are even more rare.

The calf swims circles in the Sea Life tank, as dolphins in nearby holding tanks stick their heads above the water to see the unusual activity surrounding the calf's tank.

Swimming about six inches away from her is Osborn.

The pair swims four laps a minute around the small tank.

Occasionally he rests his palm on her side.

Another staff member records the calf's respiration rate.

They feed her every two hours using a tube down her throat, the most effective way they've found so far, Braun said. They tried a bottle, but she couldn't swallow enough of the formula.

Experts at Sea World in California faxed a formula recipe for the calf, Braun said. It's a high-calorie, high-energy mixture designed to hydrate and nourish her as quickly as possible. It contains whipped cream for extra calories.

Osborn doesn't know how she sleeps and counts on the calf to tell them when she wants to rest.

"Her eyes are very alert. She makes eye contact and seems to know us now," Osborn said.

She vocalized, or cried, when she arrived, Osborn said. But she has since calmed down and vocalizes infrequently now.

In six months to a year, if she survives, she can begin eating small fish. Melon-headed whales prefer tuna, Braun said.

Osborn stopped swimming and held up what looked like a small dark pebble. He put it into a test tube for Braun to analyze.

"All right," she had a bowel movement," Osborn said grinning. "That's good news around here."