Rare fin whale found dead on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast may have been struck by boat

Warning: This story contains graphic photos.

A group of scientists are trying to determine how and why a rare fin whale was found dead on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast last week.

The 12.8 metre (42 foot) male whale was found dead in Pender Harbour last Thursday, and scientists from Fisheries and Oceans Canada believe it was dead for three to five days before it washed ashore.

Shíshálh Nation members performed a ceremony for the whale before a necropsy was performed.

It's estimated that the whale was less than two years old, and it appeared to be healthy when it died, with a stomach full of krill.

Researchers now say it may have died from a vessel strike.

"We took lots of samples in terms of internal organs," said Paul Cottrell, DFO marine mammal response coordinator.

"We took morphometrics, lots of pictures, and we did find that there was a blunt force trauma event on the dorsal-ventral right side that was consistent with blunt force trauma and a possible vessel strike," he said. "So that's something we're looking into in more detail."

The whale was discovered on March 17, 2022 (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)

Through photo identification, researchers say this fin whale was last seen in January in Washington's Puget Sound.

Fin whales are the second-largest mammal on earth, and populations in the northern Pacific are currently listed as "threatened" under Canada's Species at Risk Act.