A four-year-old humpback whale was found dead near Keats Island in Howe Sound, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is investigating to determine the cause of death.
Alex Cole lives in Howe Sound and first learned about the dead whale Saturday night through a local Facebook group he runs.
He drove his boat Sunday morning to the south side of Keats Island and photographed the dead whale against the rocks.
“It’s obviously sad, very sad and tragic to see a big, beautiful whale… in that kind of vulnerable position,” Cole said.
The whale was found dead in the same area where a humpback whale was struck by a whale watching boat on October 23.
A declaration of whale watching company Prince of Whales said based on the timing and location, he believes this could be the whale involved in Thursday’s incident.
“We are devastated by this news,” the statement read.
The company said it will continue to cooperate and communicate with DFO as the situation evolves.
“To the many vessel operators here in the Salish Sea, we would like to emphasize that if an event like this can happen to a vessel manned by professionals actively searching for whales, it can happen to any vessel at any time,” the statement read.
DFO identified the dead humpback whale found on Keats Island as BCY1464, also known as Wisp, and said there is an active investigation.
“This is an unfortunate incident,” a DFO spokesperson said. “We are working to better understand what happened.”
Erin Gless of the Pacific Whale Watch Association said BCY1464 Wisp was born in 2021 to the dam BCX1333 Ghost.
Wisp and another whale, BCY1463 Malachite, spent several weeks feeding together earlier this season in Howe Sound, very close to shore.
In this video from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, a humpback whale is seen being freed from nearly 450 feet (137 meters) of fishing rope after a whale watching boat found it in the Strait of Georgia. Correction: An earlier version of this video included a headline saying the rope entangling the humpback whale was made of steel. In fact, according to the DFO, the rope was Polysteel, which is synthetic.
Cole said Wisp had a big following this summer after people kept seeing him near the coast.
“Wisp is definitely a well-loved whale,” Cole said.
Whale seen swimming after attack
At the time of the incident, the company said it was not actively observing the whale and that it was a surprise encounter when it suddenly and unexpectedly surfaced.
“Although the ship was able to stop almost immediately, there was minimal contact with the whale during the maneuver,” the statement read.
Several passengers on the boat fell when it stopped suddenly.
BC Emergency Health Services said paramedics provided emergency medical treatment to four patients on Granville Island. They were taken to the hospital in stable condition.
One of the crew members on board watched as the whale surfaced and swam away, according to the company.
“Crew members on Thursday’s tour did not observe any apparent injuries to the whale as it swam away, but not all parts of the whale were visible at that time,” the statement read.
After the ship hit, DFO was still unable to confirm the identity of the whale.
On October 17, a high-speed ferry collided with a humpback whale near Vancouver in English Bay.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) confirmed to CBC News that the injured animal had been identified as the calf of BCX1193 Zig Zag.
The humpback calf was seen with a deep cut near its dorsal fin.
DFO said vessel strikes are one of the main threats to humpback whales. As the number of humpback whales increases in coastal waters, so does their overlap with human activities and boat traffic.
