PORTUGUESE COVE, N.S. – A 20-foot long minke whale has washed ashore in Portuguese Cove, a small community 30 minutes outside of Halifax.
Brian Lewis spotted the drifting carcass Saturday afternoon, when it was still floating about 50 feet from shore.
“I was just talking to my neighbours and when I looked out to the water I could something that wasn’t normal. I thought it was a kayak upside down, got the binoculars, took a look and saw what it was.”
Since then, Lewis has been on the phone reporting the carcass to different authorities, in the hopes one of them can tow it out to deeper waters. Following up on one of Lewis’ phone calls, a Canadian Coast Guard Cutter made its way to the scene Sunday morning and took pictures of the carcass. A spokesperson later told Global News there’s not much the Coast Guard can do in this situation.
A coordinator with the Marine Animal Response Society also visited the scene Sunday afternoon to investigate.
“By the time we got there unfortunately it was already partially submerged in water, so there was a limited amount of information we can get,” said Andrew Reid.
Reid couldn’t determine what killed the whale but says the carcass is that of a juvenile minke.
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Residents living near the carcass say they’d like it to be removed soon, before it starts rotting.
The Marine Animal Response Society doesn’t have the resources to remove the carcass, and Reid couldn’t say which other department or organization might.
“Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like in Nova Scotia there is one level of government or one organization that does deal with this.”
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