Researchers investigate death of humpback whale
Posted March 27, 2013 9:31 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TOFINO (NEWS1130) – Employees of a Vancouver Island salmon farm are trying to figure out why a dead humpback whale ended up floating near some of the company’s nets.
Laurie Jensen of Mainstream Canada says the dead whale was spotted by workers early Wednesday morning at a farm north of Tofino.
Jensen says the company believes the animal has been dead for some time because divers inspected the nets at the farm just two days before and observed nothing unusual.
She says the company believes the whale drifted into the farm site, and as it decomposed, gasses floated the animal to the surface.
The animal’s carcass has been towed to a nearby beach, and Jensen says a necropsy will likely take place Friday.
The company says it’s working with whale researchers and Fisheries and Oceans Canada to find out why the whale died.
