{"id":952021,"date":"2026-10-30T15:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T15:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/952021\/"},"modified":"2026-10-30T15:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T15:04:14","slug":"dead-humpback-whale-that-was-struck-by-ferry-towed-to-first-nation-for-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/952021\/","title":{"rendered":"Dead humpback whale that was struck by ferry towed to First Nation for ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

WARNING: This story contains graphic images of a dead whale. <\/p>\n

A dead humpback whale that was struck by a B.C. Ferries vessel has been towed to a Squamish Nation village for a cultural ceremony. <\/p>\n

The whale, identified as Notcho (BCX1700), was seen floating off Gambier Island on Monday night after being struck a week earlier in the same area.<\/p>\n

Ferry passengers say they felt a collision with a whale on Oct. 18<\/a> while travelling on the Queen of Surrey, travelling between Langdale Terminal on the Sunshine Coast and Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver.<\/p>\n

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) said the collision happened between Grace Point and Keats Island.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Aspen Wing and her son watched as a humpback whale was struck by a ferry leaving the Langdale terminal on the Sunshine Coast on Oct. 18, 2026. (Submitted by Aspen Wing)<\/p>\n

Paul Cottrell, a member of the DFO\u2019s marine mammal response team, said they found the whale on Tuesday and confirmed it was the same whale that was struck. \u00a0<\/p>\n

He said Notch\u2019s fluke and peduncle were missing from the rest of its body.<\/p>\n

The DFO and the Canadian Coast Guard have now towed the whale’s bloated carcass from West Bay near Gambier Island to the village of Xwemelch\u2019stn (Capilano) in West Vancouver. <\/p>\n

Chairperson Sxw\u00edxwtn Wilson Williams of the Squamish Nation said whales are considered sacred relatives with profound cultural and spiritual importance. <\/p>\n

“There\u2019s a deep connection historically, [and] having whales coming back through our waters means a lot to our people,” Williams said. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The dead humpback whale was found by the Grace Islands off B.C.’s coast, according to the Marine Education and Research Society. (Emily Ashton)<\/p>\n

The Canadian Coast Guard contacted Williams about the whale, and the Squamish Nation quickly assembled a team. <\/p>\n

“We have an elder that has travelled down from the far west of [Vancouver] Island that has experience in harvesting whales,” Williams said. <\/p>\n

Whale skin and bones can be used for regalia, he explained, and could even be used in part of education and school curricula. <\/p>\n

“We’re looking at providing time for community members to come down, maybe having the little ones’ school come down as a field trip,” Williams said. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The dead whale is seen floating on the shore near Burrard Inlet off Squamish Nation\u2019s Xwemelch\u2019stn (Capilano) village. (Squamish Nation)<\/p>\n

Notcho is now at the the village on the shore in Burrard Inlet. <\/p>\n

“A lot of people that reached out today want to go down and just share a song, drum, and sing and share a prayer,” Williams said on Thursday. <\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Chairperson Sxw\u00edxwtn Wilson Williams of the Squamish Nation is seen on Oct. 29, 2026. (Alanna Kelly\/CBC)<\/p>\n

The Squamish Nation is planning to hold a private cultural ceremony, and is asking the public for privacy.<\/p>\n

“Being on site was challenging today because our hearts go out to the loss of life, and you can feel the power of such a beautiful mammal,” Williams said. <\/p>\n

The DFO is conducting a necropsy and collecting samples to determine the whale’s exact cause of death, and the results are expected to take months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":952022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-952021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/952022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}