Giant whales found dead up & down Pacific NW coast, scientists ‘baffled’ over surge — 25+ carcasses reported in past month — Gov’t: “Troubling… Definitely a pulse of deaths” — Experts: “Alarming spike… Exceptionally rare to see a dead humpback” — Concerns about unidentified pathogen (PHOTOS)
ENENews.com
August 13th, 2015
Vancouver Sun, Aug 13, 2015 (emphasis added): Four B.C. whale deaths in a week baffle scientists; Necropsies hope to provide answers as carcasses continue to pop up… four dead humpback whales in B.C. waters in a single week, just as Alaska is experiencing a surge of whale deaths, has scientists searching for a possible connection… 21 humpback and fin whales have been found dead in southeast Alaska during the past month, according to Paul Cottrell, Pacific marine mammal coordinator for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. “It’s definitely a pulse of deaths and something that we’re going to keep our eye on,” Cottrell said. No cause has been pinpointed for any of the deaths… “These samples are very important… to see if there’s any relationship — whether there’s a pathogen that may be causing this,” Cottrell said… Media reports have suggested [one] died after becoming entangled in fishing gear, but Cottrell said it is far too early to come to that conclusion… The scientists also noticed wounds on the whale’s body… “if there’s anthropogenic or human-caused things affecting the recovery, those are things that we want to know about.”
CTV, Aug 12, 2015: … Cottrell said the number of recent discoveries is troubling. “It’s definitely a pulse and it’s something we are concerned about… We’re hoping we don’t get any more.”
The Rest…HERE
