Condition worsens for newborn whale hit by boat days after birth near Georgia coast

The once hopeful story of an injured baby whale off the Georgia coast has taken a turn for the worse, even as national attention grows over the calf’s plight.

NOAA Fisheries Service posted an increasingly pessimistic prognosis Monday for the baby, which experts say may have been hit by a passing vessel days after being born.

“Based on the images received, the calf’s wounds are worse than originally thought,” NOAA posted. “For example, some of the wounds are to the lip and may not be repairable, leading to impacts on feeding. The calf’s prognosis was downgraded from ‘guarded’ to ‘poor.’”

Experts have not yet given up, however.

The calf and its mother, a whale named Derecha, were last seen Friday and NOAA is asking mariners to help find the pair so possible treatment can start. What that treatment might be isn’t known yet.

“Antibiotics may be delivered if warranted,” NOAA posted.

Derecha and her injured calf were first seen off Georgia on Jan. 8 by biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, NOAA said in a report.

It’s believed Derecha is 27 years old and has given birth four times, the report says.

Experts say the calf has “two roughly parallel and S-shaped injuries” that were probably caused by “the propeller of a vessel,” according to the report.

“NOAA urges everyone to please give these animals their space. Mom/calf pairs spend the majority of their time at, or a few feet below the water’s surface in the Southeast U.S,” the group posted on Facebook.

“This is a critical and vulnerable time for right whale moms to bond with their calves — law requires staying away at least 500 yards by air (including drones) and by sea,” the report said.

This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 7:04 AM with the headline "Condition worsens for newborn whale hit by boat days after birth near Georgia coast."