Another whale carcass has washed ashore in Atlantic Canada, yet again leaving local officials struggling with how to remove the giant mammal from the beach.
A 45-foot fin whale was found bobbing along the shores of Port Hasting, N.S. last week has since moved, giving another community a challenge.
The high winds that accompanied post-tropical storm Arthur moved the mammal further along the coast, where it’s now stranded on a secluded stretch of beach.
A group of volunteers with the Halifax-based Marine Animal Response Society arrived to the beach on Monday to examine the whale.
Group member Andrew Reid said the team is looking at the external surface of the whale to see if there's any signs of human interaction, or if it died of natural causes.
Reid told CTV Atlantic that there's a large dent on the top of the animal, but that could have happened after it died.
"It does look a little bit thin to me, so that could be a sign of a long-term injury or disease," Reid said.
Because of the shape of the cove, it's not expected that the whale will move.
Officials with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans said once a whale reaches the high tide mark, it becomes the responsibility of the province or the municipality to remove it.
Whose responsibility is it to remove the dead whale?
Nova Scotia's Department of Fisheries, meanwhile, said it's too early to determine who's responsible for removing the carcass.
Local officials in Newfoundland were struggling with how to handle two North Atlantic blue whale carcasses that had washed ashore in Trout River and Woody Point this past spring.
Officials in both communities had appealed to the provincial and federal governments for help with the huge and costly job of removing the carcasses. They raised concerns that the rotting whales posed health hazards and could drive away tourists if left to decompose.
The Royal Ontario Museum later stepped up to the plate, offering to preserve the skeletons of the giant mammals and transport them to Toronto.
The two endangered whales were among nine killed by unusually thick sea ice over the winter. The ROM had said the nine blue whales represented about five per cent of the population in the North Atlantic.
With a report from CTV Atlantic
