Visitors urged to avoid dead grey whale near Tofino, B.C.

Visitors at Pacific Rim National Park have been asked to keep their distance from a dead grey whale that washed ashore this week.

Parks Canada is urging visitors to the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve near Tofino, B.C., to keep their distance from the carcass of a young grey whale that has washed ashore.

The agency says the deceased whale was reportedly floating offshore near Long Beach on Tuesday before it was eventually beached by the surf.

Parks Canada staff and members of the local Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Park Guardians were on scene as the whale came ashore on Wednesday, the agency said in a statement.

Officials have restricted public access to the area “both for health and safety reasons, and in respect for the whale,” Parks Canada spokesperson Nancy Hildebrand said.

“Visitors may only observe the carcass from a distance, and touching the whale is prohibited,” she added. “Always keep pets on leash and do not allow them to approach the carcass.”

Park officials are working with the local Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, as well as Fisheries and Oceans Canada to determine the next steps.

“Although the loss of a whale can be difficult to observe, it also provides important nutrients to other animals and the environment,” Hildebrand said.

The Fisheries department says in a statement its marine mammal response team is working to secure the mammal and perform a necropsy.

The cause of death won’t be confirmed until after the necropsy reports are complete, which usually takes two to three months, it said.

The Fisheries department says the whale is part of the Eastern North Pacific population, which was assessed in 2005 as being of special concern under the federal Species at Risk Act.

Grey whales were historically found along Canada’s Pacific and Atlantic coasts but today are only found in the Pacific, according to the Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

The migratory species typically inhabits shallow waters within 10 kilometres of the shoreline.