Canadian authorities confirmed that a humpback whale washed up on Lasqueti Island \u2013 north of Parksville in the Strait of Georgia \u2013 on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) says the dead whale was a 21-year-old Polyphemus, which was first spotted in 2004.<\/p>\n
The whale was known to migrate between Hawaii and B.C.<\/p>\n
The DFO says it is investigating the incident to identify the cause of the death.<\/p>\n
Caitlin Birdsall, spokesperson with the Port McNeill-based Marine Education and Research Society, says it is not clear what killed the animal, noting that most whales die unnoticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cCollisions often go unreported or undetected. Sometimes the animal that takes some, you know, they don\u2019t die instantaneously, but they succumb to injuries many weeks or months thereafter,\u201d Birdsall said.<\/p>\n
According to the federal department, vessel strikes are one of the primary threats to humpback whales.<\/p>\n
The danger is especially high in the fall, when more than 400 humpback whales are swimming in the waters between Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not know at this point what happened to that animal, but it was seen in an area that has a fairly high population density. There\u2019s also been a lot in the news recently about injured and dead humpback whales,\u201d Birdsall explained.<\/p>\n
Earlier this fall, two whales were hit by two separate watercraft and died of their injuries.<\/p>\n
A whale watching company\u00a0said it was \u201cdevastated<\/a>\u201d by the discovery of a dead humpback whale that was very likely struck by one of its vessels.<\/p>\n In another incident, a high-speed, passenger-only ferry service is cooperating with authorities after one of its vessels struck a humpback whale<\/a> near Vancouver in English Bay.<\/p>\n Additionally, a calf was injured and later seen with a deep gash<\/a> after it was hit by a ferry.<\/p>\n \u201cAny operator of a vessel or fishing gear involved in accidental contact with a marine mammal is required to immediately notify DFO of the incident,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n The DFO is asking watercraft operators to stay alert while moving through coastal waters.<\/p>\n It is recommended that vessels reduce speed to 7 knots or less when within 1 km of any whale.<\/p>\n