Following the death of a humpback whale that could be tied to a collision with a Prince of Whales vessel in October, another dead humpback has been discovered near Vancouver Island.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has confirmed that a humpback was found deceased near Lasqueti Island, which is located just north of Parksville in the Strait of Georgia.
The deceased whale was discovered on Friday, November 8th and has been identified as ‘Polyphemus,’ or BCZ0324, a 21-year-old mature humpback.
“This is an unfortunate incident, and we are working to better understand what happened,” said DFO in a statement to Victoria Buzz.
This humpback was first spotted in the waters surrounding Vancouver Island in 2004, and he was known to migrate between Hawaii and British Columbia throughout the year.
According to DFO, humpback whale populations in Pacific waters have been steadily increasing since the 1960s, when the whaling industry ceased in Canada.
“Since then, their numbers have been increasing along the coast of BC,” said DFO.
“Vessel strikes are one of the primary threats to humpback whales. During some activities (e.g. feeding, resting), humpbacks can be quite oblivious of boats and they can be hard to see.”
DFO says the cause of death for Polyphemus is under investigation.
Unfortunately, this whale strike is just the latest incident in a recent surge of whale deaths in the Salish Sea.
The last two months alone, a Hullo Ferries vessel travelling between Nanaimo and Vancouver struck a humpback calf who thankfully lived, a BC Ferries vessel struck a humpback who died near Prince Rupert and another humpback was discovered dead after a collision with a whale watching tour boat.
