Two fisheries officers are recovering from injuries after their vessel collided with a humpback whale off the British Columbia coast. A spokesperson for Fisheries and Oceans Canada says the whale involved in the Aug. 9 encounter near Calvert Island has not yet been identified. The agency is now working with the B.C. Marine Mammal Response Network to find the whale and document any injuries it may have sustained, department spokesperson Mo Qutob said Wednesday. The department did not disclose the nature of the officers’ injuries. “Our focus at this time is on the health and safety of the fishery officers involved, and protecting their privacy,” Qutob wrote in an email. “Therefore, no further information will be provided at this time.” The DFO is part of the B.C. Marine Mammal Response Network, a collaborative group that monitors and responds to marine mammals in distress. Marine response network members, including DFO officers, have responded to several humpback whale entanglements off the B.C. coast this summer. Last month, the network conducted back-to-back rescues of two humpback whales entangled in discarded fishing gear off Vancouver Island. Qutob says the conservation and protection of marine mammals remains a priority for the agency, and encourages anyone with information about whales being disturbed or struck by vessels to contact the department. Calvert Island is approximately 80 kilometres north of the Vancouver Island community of Port Hardy, on B.C.’s central coast. Humpback comeback Humpbacks have been making a comeback in B.C. waters in recent years, with researchers suggesting an abundant food supply and conservation efforts are turning the tide for the species once rarely encountered here. According to the Pacific Whale Watch Association, only one humpback whale was recorded in the Salish Sea in 1997. The mammals are now counted in the hundreds as they migrate through the region each summer. Last fall, two humpbacks were struck in separate incidents involving ferries between Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland.
