The carcass of a humpback whale has washed up on shore at Twin Rivers beach near Ucluelet, on Vancouver Island.
Local marine mammal researcher Wendy Szaniszlo told the Westerly News on Sunday the area the whale washed up is around La Perouse Bank, where humpbacks are abundant and added that she particpated in a DFO survey in August where sa国际传媒渨ell over 100sa国际传媒� humpbacks were spotted.
sa国际传媒淭he humpback population is a growing population. Theresa国际传媒檚 a lot of them,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淭hey were listed as threatened and now their numbers are coming back. So, from a recovery perspective, thatsa国际传媒檚 definitely a good news storysa国际传媒heresa国际传媒檚 definitely enough food for them, at least in this area and the fact that theysa国际传媒檙e not being hunted anymore goes a long way as well to help their recovery.sa国际传媒�
Photos of the carcass were being shared on the Salmon Beach Village Facebook page Sunday afternoon and Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada researchers recently conducted a necropsy that revealed the mammal had a broken jaw.
sa国际传媒淯nfortunately the lower right jaw was dislocated, which indicates some sort of significant trauma,sa国际传媒� said DFO Marine Mammal Coordinator Paul Cottrell. sa国际传媒淗uman interaction could be the cause of that type of impact, it could be a vessel for example, but thatsa国际传媒檚 something we donsa国际传媒檛 know at this point and wesa国际传媒檙e working with the samples wesa国际传媒檝e taken and the pictures and all the details and hopefully wesa国际传媒檒l be able to clarify things.sa国际传媒�
The roughly 12-metre long whale is believed to have been dead for sa国际传媒渨ell over a weeksa国际传媒� before being discovered, information might be hard to obtain as it was already in a state of decomposition.
Cottrell says the DFO hopes to leave the carcass where it is as it is not in a heavily used area and could be a key food source for local wildlife.
sa国际传媒淚f itsa国际传媒檚 isolated and not going to be a human danger, wesa国际传媒檒l leave it where it is for other animalssa国际传媒ll the marine critters there benefit from a huge animal dying like that, which is sad, but at least when itsa国际传媒檚 going back to nature it can help the food web thatsa国际传媒檚 in that area,sa国际传媒� he said.
One of the biggest threats to West Coast humpbacks is the possibility of being struck by boaters, adds Szaniszlo.
sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 definitely a safety concern for the whale, but also people in smaller, fast boats as well. Thatsa国际传媒檚 the biggest concern so, if you see a blow, go slow,sa国际传媒� she says.
