Whale calf beaches after losing its mom on Hawaii coast. Now officials issue warning

Whale calves need their mothers to survive. This is why surfers and swimmers at a Hawaii beach were shocked at the sight of a baby humpback drifting solo near the shore.

Now officials have a warning.

Bystanders were seen on a video from KHON2 trying to push the calf away from the shore of Waikiki and farther into the ocean on Dec. 27.

“I heard a commotion on the rocks, like there was a shark or something in the water over by the rocks,” witness Robert Fernandez told KHON2. “When I got close ... (the whale) wasn’t injured, it was just stressed. It seemed like it was trying to get away from something.”

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials told Hawaii News Now that the news of a calf separated from its mother is highly unusual.

A video on the “Hungryhungry Hawaiian Wildlife’s” Instagram page shows a jet ski driver trying to lead the calf away from shore.

In the video, the calf follows the jet ski toward the breakwater offshore.

“Come on, baby, let’s go out,” the driver says to the calf in the video.

“No no no, wrong way,” he says a moment later, pleading as the calf veers back toward the rocks.

The sight is not only concerning for the wayward mammal — but possibly dangerous for people in the area, experts said.

“A small, young animal — alone, potentially bleeding — definitely can have the potential to attract sharks,” Diana Kramer, NOAA’s regional stranding coordinator for Pacific Islands, told Hawaii News Now.

According to Hawaii News Now, lifeguards warned surfers and swimmers to stay clear of the area now that sharks may be attracted to the area for an easy meal.

Shark attacks are “extremely rare,” according to John Carlson, research fish biologist for NOAA.

“You have a better chance of getting in a car accident and being injured on your way to the beach than you do actually when you get to go swimming,” he said in a NOAA video.

Hawaii averages three to four shark attacks per year, according to the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology.

Besides sharks, there are other dangers for a calf separated from its mother. Humpback whale mothers nurse their offspring until they are nearly a year old. And calves stay with their mothers for the first year of their lives, or longer.

“Chances of survival are not very high if the calf isn’t reunited with the mom within the next 12 to 24 hours,” Lars Bejder, professor in the Marine Mammal Research Program at the University of Hawaii, told KHON2.

There have not yet been any confirmed reports of adult whales in the area, Kramer told KHON2.

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