Latest dead humpback on B.C. beach could be fifth in under two months

Fisheries officials are investigating the latest in a string of humpback whale deaths on the British Columbia coast.

The whale was located in the East Beach area of Naikoon Provincial Park on Haida Gwaii Sunday.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) officers and a Haida Biologist attended Monday to take samples, measurements and photographs of the creature, which was in an “advanced state of decomposition.”

The DFO said it can’t determine if this is either the fourth or fifth reported fatality since early October.

A dead humpback was spotted in the waters off Prince Rupert in early October, but because of how decomposed the whales that have washed up recently were, they are unable to be sure if they were the same animal.

1:53 Whale researchers concerned by deadly collisions in B.C. waters

Dead whales were then found on Malcolm Island near Port McNeil on Oct. 23, near Massett on Haida Gwaii on Nov. 5 and in Naikoon Provincial Park on Nov. 14.

Ship strikes are being investigated as a possible factor in at least two of the deaths, but the DFO says it will need to wait for the result of necropsies, which could take several months, to be sure.

The DFO issued a public safety warning following the Nov. 14 discovery, after several dogs became severely ill after eating meat from the decaying whale.

Humpback whales in the North Pacific Ocean have rebounded from near extinction since they were protected by the International Whaling Commission in 1966.

The DFO believes several thousand of the animals swim in the waters off B.C.’s coast, and that five to 10 deaths are typical in a year.

Ship strikes and entanglement remain their greatest threats from humans.