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 鈥渨ell over 100鈥� humpbacks were spotted.
鈥淭he humpback population is a growing population. There鈥檚 a lot of them,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey were listed as threatened and now their numbers are coming back. So, from a recovery perspective, that鈥檚 definitely a good news story鈥here鈥檚 definitely enough food for them, at least in this area and the fact that they鈥檙e not being hunted anymore goes a long way as well to help their recovery.鈥�
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.
鈥淯nfortunately the lower right jaw was dislocated, which indicates some sort of significant trauma,鈥� said DFO Marine Mammal Coordinator Paul Cottrell. 鈥淗uman interaction could be the cause of that type of impact, it could be a vessel for example, but that鈥檚 something we don鈥檛 know at this point and we鈥檙e working with the samples we鈥檝e taken and the pictures and all the details and hopefully we鈥檒l be able to clarify things.鈥�
The roughly 12-metre long whale is believed to have been dead for 鈥渨ell over a week鈥� 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.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 isolated and not going to be a human danger, we鈥檒l leave it where it is for other animals鈥ll the marine critters there benefit from a huge animal dying like that, which is sad, but at least when it鈥檚 going back to nature it can help the food web that鈥檚 in that area,鈥� he said.
One of the biggest threats to West Coast humpbacks is the possibility of being struck by boaters, adds Szaniszlo.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 definitely a safety concern for the whale, but also people in smaller, fast boats as well. That鈥檚 the biggest concern so, if you see a blow, go slow,鈥� she says.
