An investigation is underway into how three sperm whales washed ashore off the northern coast of Prince Edward Island.
Marine Animal Response Society, a charitable organization dedicated to marine animal conservation in the Maritimes, said in a post on Facebook Tuesday the whales, which became beached on Saturday night near Hardy’s Channel at East Bideford, have all died.
It added several factors, including the size and weight of the surviving whale, posed challenges and safety risks that could not be overcome.
“We saw firsthand the complexity of the environment where the animals had come ashore. As had been reported to us by locals, it is comprised of many shallow sandbars and few narrow channels,” it said.
“We will be working with all partners to see if necropsies (animal autopsies) can be done, to help us learn what may have caused this incident.”
A beached sperm whale is shown in P.E.I. in this handout photo provided by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada/The Canadian Press
Fisheries and Oceans Canada said on Monday the department had been using drones to take pictures of the whales because the location is difficult to access by foot or boat.
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In Canada, sperm whales are found in deep waters of the continental shelf or in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, at depths of 500 to 1,000 metres, said Tonya Wimmer, executive director of the Marine Animal Response Society.
So how and why the animals ended up off the coast of northern Prince Edward Island is a mystery, and something to be studied, she added.
“With whales — a thing of any size, when they hit a beach, they don’t have arms …. They’re beautifully designed to be in the ocean, and that’s where they’ve evolved, and they are fantastically perfect for that environment,” she told The Canadian Press.
“But even though they’re a mammal, put them on land — that’s really not their element.”
The Marine Animal Response Society said in its social media post that it would work to see if necropsies can be done on the whales to find out what may have caused their deaths.
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