Rare whale washes up on Vancouver Island, in possible 1st sighting of species in B.C.

CBC News

· Posted: May 16, 2025 6:14 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

In a imaginable archetypal for B.C., a Bryde's whale — a taxon not mostly seen northbound of California — has washed up connected Vancouver Island.

The whale washed ashore successful Port McNeill Bay, connected the bluish broadside of the Island, according to a quality merchandise from the 'Na̱mg̱is First Nation.

Experts brought successful to analyse the assemblage confirmed it arsenic a young Bryde's whale, a baleen whale that uses filter feeding, akin to humpbacks, mostly recovered successful tropical to temperate waters, though determination person been stray sightings of individuals arsenic acold northbound arsenic Washington authorities successful the past.

Jackie Hildering of the Marine Education and Research Society visited the whale and says to her knowledge, this is the archetypal clip 1 has been seen successful British Columbia.

'Na̱mg̱is Chief Victor Isaac says successful the connection that a necropsy of the Bryde's whale volition beryllium done to find the origin of death, and the assemblage is "deeply concerned" by the "rarity of this taxon appearing truthful acold north."

"Namgis First Nation is precise bittersweet and acrophobic with the clime situation and the wellness of our oceans," Isaac said. "We volition enactment with each parties to find what has happened to this idiosyncratic and hopefully travel to amended recognize however to beryllium the champion stewards of our awi'nakola — our environment," it said successful the statement. 

The whale is the 3rd to beryllium recovered dormant connected B.C. shores this month, aft 2 grey whales were recovered washed up, 1 connected Vancouver Island and 1 connected Haida Gwaii.