A Bryde’s whale on Port McNeill beach, which marks the first time this species has been seen so far north. Photo: YouTube//Screenshot
Bryde’s whales have never been seen in the waters off the coast of British Columbia, but one was discovered dead on a beach in Port McNeill, a little town on the northeastern end of Vancouver Island.
“This is the only Bryde’s whale that has ever been seen in British Columbia waters, with all the collective knowledge through First Nations, DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans),” Jackie Hildering, whale researcher and director of education and communications with the Marine Education and Research Society, told Global News.
The whale was found by a man walking his dog on the morning of May 14. Hildering says that the team that was called in after the discovery thought it was a minke whale. On closer inspection, however, they noticed that it didn’t have the characteristic white bands on the flippers called “minke mittens.”
Bryde’s whales are baleen whales, as are humpbacks and blue whales. They have three ridges on the top part of their jaw, called rostral ridges. Those can be clearly seen in the video you below.
Although Bryde’s whales have been spotted in Washington State’s Puget Sound before, this is a first for British Columbia. Generally, Bryde’s whales tend to come as far north as the Los Angeles area.
The whale was a young male, and as of this writing, no cause of death has been found. The most obvious reason would be a boat strike, but that isn’t the case here.
Paul Cottrell, the marine mammal coordinator with the DFO, told reporters that the deceased whale is sad event, but it will give researchers a much-needed chance to learn more about the whales.
