Advocates call for safer waters as B.C. island mourns the loss of Wisp the humpback whale

Four-year-old humpback whale Wisp washed up on a beach on Keats Island on Saturday. (Courtesy: Jana Nadler)

Advocates on B.C.’s Keats Island are calling for better protection of local marine life after a four-year-old humpback whale, suspected to have been struck by a tour vessel, washed up on its shores last week.

An investigation was launched after the carcass, since identified as that of a young whale named Wisp, was discovered on the beach days after a Prince of Whales touring company struck a humpback in Howe Sound, near Vancouver.

“There’s been quite an outpouring of support and grief for this particular whale,” says island resident Jana Nadler, describing how some residents have taken to leaving flowers on a rock on the beach close to where the whale washed ashore.

Nadler, a Squamish Nation member and resident of the island for over 20 years, says members of the First Nations community have discussed turning the portion of the beach into a site where people can gather and reflect on the plight of local whales — with some members looking to incorporate a stop at the site in their future, summertime canoe journeys. Talk of a ceremony celebrating the brief life of the humpback is also underway.

‘We were just in disbelief’

Nadler had been one of the first residents to find Wisp’s carcass after it beached on the island’s coast on a small acreage owned by her family. Along with her husband, she braved Saturday evening’s stormy weather to visit the shore and catch a glimpse of a creature few have the opportunity to see in such close proximity.

“As we started approaching the edge of the cliff area where you could look down at the beach, we could intensely smell the whale,” she says.

“When we got to the edge of the cliff and we could verify where it was, we were just in disbelief.” The couple had scaled down the cliffside via a “little goat trail” carved out by her family to take a photograph and have a close, but respectful, look.

“The experience was quite surreal and disorienting, it was just very wild to be standing beside such a large creature,” she says.

“I remember telling my husband that I felt as though I was standing next to a dinosaur, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

After visiting the site the next day, Nadler says Fisheries and Oceans Canada has been working with her and other Keats residents to piece together what caused the humpback’s death. With Wisp being such a frequent visitor to local shores, many have their own photographs and videos of the whale they have been able to share.

Nadler says the death of the humpback feels particularly upsetting as she had been at home that Thursday afternoon when the tour boat collided with a whale, and had witnessed the event unfold through her window.

She says she had been watching a humpback surfacing in the water, and the birds that followed, when the “bright yellow catamaran boat” of the Prince of Whales tour organization was in transit.

Investigation underway

The touring company, which said the strike happened when a humpback surfaced unexpectedly directly in front of its vessel, has since said the whale that washed up on the island “could be” the same one given the timing and location of the incident.

An investigation into the incident is still underway.

Nadler, touching on how “deeply symbolic” it feels for the whale to have washed up on her family’s property, says that she hopes the incident serves as a reminder for boaters to be cautious when they’re out on the water.

“If this whale happens to be connected to the incident with the Prince of Wales boat, then perhaps it can be the catalyst for change,” she says.

“I hope that regardless of what happens that there’s justice for Wisp, and that perhaps there will be changes in regulations that will make our waters safer here in Howe Sound.”