A proposed attempt by police to take a light-hearted poke at Skywhale through a social media post and alter an image of the balloon to create their own version was quickly punctured by the ACT government.
Documents obtained through Freedom of Information have revealed that the pitch was proposed by the ACT police social media team as an April Fool's joke.
The proposed idea was that Skywhale would be photoshopped with a police officer's hat on its head.
The first proposal was drawn up as Spywhale: "the latest tool in the fight against (various crime types)".
"Eight long range cameras provide high definition 360-degree coverage from above, strengthening public safety throughout the capital", the accompanying text said.
However, the use of the word "spy" appeared a little too controversial for the conservatives on the police executive team - even though they have surveillance teams known as "dogs" spying on Canberrans every day - so instead the text was rejigged to read: "ACT Policing would like to introduce the newest member of the Skywhale family - CSIwhale".
"CSIwhale is helping us detect and solve crime from the sky," the proposed text read.
The team added: "We would make a joke that this could only be done between 6-9am each day and only if weather conditions allow it".
In support of its request to the ACT government, the team said it thought this would "receive positive engagement from our audience as the Skywhales are much loved and recognised Canberra icons and there is a lot of interest in them".
Internally, the concept received the go-ahead but when police reached out to the ACT government, it was quickly deflated.
In a circular to her staff, the social media manager advised "we weren't allowed to due to rules, regulations and copyright issues".
